


The Prince (To My Ballerina)

by wirewrappedlily



Category: Aladdin - All Media Types, Once Upon a Time (TV), Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Treasure Island & Related Fandoms
Genre: (emphasis on try), F/M, the one where Killian and Emma try to get married
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-25 02:41:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4943560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wirewrappedlily/pseuds/wirewrappedlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She's a powerful one, isn't she?" </p><p>"The Saviour of the Enchanted Forest. And Arendelle, Neverland, and anywhere else she's needed."</p><p>Silver's eyes narrowed to slits, his mouth twisting down, "She's a hero." </p><p>"I am, too."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When I Fear the Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by this song:  
> [Somersault - Zero 7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-ov3etUsYo)

Emma Swan had hard and fast rules for life. 1: Trust your gut. 2: Gravity works. And 3: You're the only person who absolutely, 100% can't leave you. 

Henry Mills had changed her world view: he'd brought with him Mary Margret and David Nolan, and then a little brother she'd never considered having, and an ally made out of a woman that, by rights, understood her and the darkness Emma felt she constantly carried better than anyone else in that town ever could. Henry had brought her a pirate captain she couldn't help but believe in just as much as she believed in those three rules, but, above all else, she believed in Henry, and that his belief could move anything, even something as immovable as her. 

Rule number one had come with its own ups and downs. Neal had planted that seed of doubt in her, and it'd flourished; but she'd inherited her stubborn streak from her parents, as it turned out, and the instincts she had rode out the doubt that had been planted by the cowardly hero as soon as her brilliant, magical son began to believe in her, and Killian Jones had killed any trace of that damn seed all too easily; with more reassurance than she had ever been given before. 

With every insistence that she was brilliant; that she was more powerful than she ever managed to believe she was, he proved that everything that had come before Storybrooke had been a crime. 

Two years past, and Emma was as much in love with the pirate as she had ever been; even standing, their hands (because she and Regina had conjured-slash-healed him a new one six months ago, after the thing with Emma and Killian being forced to vault an electric fence to get away from, of all things, a damn cyclops) intertwined between them, eyes only for each other, even as the _sixteenth_ attempt they'd made to actually make it down the aisle were completely and utterly ruined. 

It had been a long road, this engagement. If it had been her choice, if she didn't have Prince freaking Charming and Snow freaking White as her parents, they would have quit trying for a proper ceremony by try ten, and just opted for Henry to feed Regina the lines from _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_ under the proviso of 'married in a hurry'. 

At this point, standing in the eighth beautiful dress they'd had to get, because the first three had been singed with fireballs, and the rest alternately bloodied, shredded, some mixture of both, or otherwise ruined just as thoroughly as the weddings they had been meant for. 

The first one had been put off simply enough: Emma and Henry had both been hit with some sort of magical flu, and in the course of the night before the wedding to getting about halfway down the aisle, they'd both popped fevers that had them collapse into the guests, Ruby Lucas and Dr. Whale catching them and Killian almost completely losing what little cool he had left after agonizing over this day. 

The next two were interrupted by 1) a pack of pixies pining for Captain Hook's blood; then 2) Mary Margaret going into labour even though she and Charming hadn't realized they were pregnant again. 

With a little sister now in tow, Emma's next three attempts were put off because they'd made it back to the Enchanted Forest, and Killian was a hero of the land, being sent on the most dangerous naval missions imaginable, and even though she tried for a _Pirates of the Caribbean_ moment to get someone to marry them in the middle of battle, Smee did not count as being an actual licensed officiant, and Killian did not wish to incur her mother's wrath once they got home. 

Henry, at this point, had offered to create Operation Bluebird to let them elope, but that had gone about as well as any of the other attempts: Emma had been kidnapped, then Killian had had to be rescued from his rescue, and finally, Killian and Emma bickered their way out of danger because, honestly, at this point, he was willing not to get married if it meant not seeing her with another blade to her throat for the next few months. 

Then an 'accident' (she used the quotations because she no longer thought they were anything but cursed) had swept them up from the tenth attempt, and had landed them in a damn jungle--though, thankfully, not freaking Neverland. 

They ended up adopting the boy that attached himself to Killian like a barnacle, and Emma gave him the name of Mowgli only slightly ironically, because the boy responded to that when she said it as well as when Killian said it, and that was what got her and the kid down the path to being family, too. 

Eleven, twelve, and thirteen were all thrown by a rogue warlock, three thieves, and fucking Blackbeard trying to kidnap Killian's true love. Emma considered it the Whack-a-Mole from hell once they figured out it was all interconnected, and if she briefly considered taking up Regina's offer to make them all vanish, she could not be blamed, because she was getting fucking impatient. 

Fourteen and fifteen had simply been put off by putting an end to the persecution of gypsies in another kingdom; leading to Emma and Killian's little family gaining two orphaned sisters, Megara and Esmeralda, then the entire nightmare of trying to return to Storybrooke once more, with an entire brood of new people to fit in the world. Killian was surprisingly good at comforting the homesick, Emma was quickly learning as more and more children began to follow him like a clutch of ducklings, learning with earnest astonishment about good form and sailing and how to tell a story that would get Ruby to give a free hot chocolate with extra marshmallows because it was so good. The one the general public considered as sixteen was not an attempt at a wedding so much as it was an attempt surprise party that begins with vows. Neither Emma nor Killian ended up making it to that party because they found themselves, for once, alone in the house, and neither of them really felt badly about calling with their combined regrets for having gotten "food poisoning" at lunch together. Except that Granny threatened to kill them because they'd eaten at her diner, and they didn't use the downtime for pleasure so much as they did to sleep. 

Killian started teaching the older children to sew not long after he found out from Ruby that they'd called in sick to their own wedding, and for the next attempt down the aisle, Emma was presented with a gift that had her in tears enough that Ruby and Regina had to completely redo Emma's make-up: the wedding dress sewn for her by her children, a mixing of the colorful silks favoured by Esmeralda, Meg and Mowgli (once Emma had convinced Mowgli that Maine called for actual clothes). 

Every time Emma moved, the colours of the silk caught the light and danced. Killian sent Henry to his mother just before Mary Margaret got to her, bearing a crown of flowers rather than the crown Mary Margaret had smuggled from the Forest, knowing that although there was no way Mary Margaret was going to let Emma go without, he could make his love a little more comfortable with a little less blatant a show. Henry affixed it to her hair, Esmeralda weaving more flowers into her hair with tiny, delicate braids, the rest of her hair in gentle curls. 

When Mary Margaret got there, Emma had tears in her eyes again, her beaming smile enough that her mother knew everything had finally fallen perfectly into place, even if it wasn't necessarily what Mary Margaret would've thought as being 'perfect'. 

Killian was wearing a scarlet button-up, smiling up from under his lashes as he clapped a hand on Henry's shoulder, the kid's smile lighting up with his eyes as he watched his mother make it to the end of the aisle. She looked nothing like a princess had ought to, but everything like Emma Swan, the pirate's true love, the Saviour, and the Lost Girl who'd finally found herself a home. 

Lily and Maleficent sat primly, mother and daughter dragon ready to battle off anything that dared to end this wedding like the others; Mary Margaret and David both already in quiet, happy tears with Neal tucked between them and their daughter in Belle's arms beside them. Henry stood at Killian's side, his best man, with Elsa standing for Emma on the other side. Robin and his men were sat conspicuously close to the aisle, each of them armed, including Anna, sitting at the front and blowing her nose loudly. Once Emma reached the altar, her children grinning at her and the look of being ruined on Killian's features, she took his hands; completely ready to finally have things work out. 

Regina didn't even get to begin her speech before a shock wave rattled the entire town, Killian reaching out and wrapping an arm around Emma's waist as Lily let out a snarl, her eyes shifting green for a moment before she and Maleficent stormed out of town hall, Robin on their heels with an arrow already nocked. 

"KILLIAN JONES!" a voice roared, and Killian flinched, looking at the door with a tight jaw. 

"Killian?" 

"This is my fault, love," Killian whispered, "I'm so sorry, I have to go out there, or they'll come in here." 

"Who?" Emma demanded, her hand going to the knife hidden in her skirts. 

Killian's hand found hers, his head shaking infinitesimally, "No one so easily fought, love." 

"Well, who is it, Killian?" Regina snapped, fire in her eyes. 

"It's a pirate--one I hoped never to have to see again. Captain Alexander Flint." 

"And rumours of my death were much exaggerated." Boomed a falsely jovial voice, Robin and his men on their feet with their weapons and Elsa and Regina both creating balls of ice and fire, "Last I saw you, you was nothin' but a deckhand. My deckhand, to be precise." 

"He's my father." Killian whispered, throat tight. Emma's eyes widened, her gaze going to the man standing in the door. 

"He did get his looks from his mother, I'll give him that," Flint grinned, gold flashing in his crooked and stained smile. 

"Liam got his morals from her, too, and got me out before you could ruin me." Killian replied, voice quiet and calm, even though his hands were shaking. 

"You became me anyway!" 

"Oh no, he didn't." Emma growled, gathering herself up and pulling Esmeralda and Megara behind her so that they wouldn't get into a fight that she had every intention on picking and winning. "He turned out like Liam." 

"Ah, puttin' on airs that you're a good husband--a good father?" Flint snickered, "I did that, d'you remember, son?" 

"I am no more your son than I am guileless coward, Flint."

Flint laughed grandly, and Killian grit his teeth. "You are my son, though. And because you are my son, you're the only one who may know where I've put my treasure island." 

Killian narrowed his eyes, "I have all the treasure I need." 

"But you don't have your brother...your blood kin." 

"Liam is dead." 

"Jim Hawkins isn't." Flint taunted. 

Killian flinched back, looking at Emma in the gown that their children had made her, protecting the young women that were their children, even if not by blood. 

Emma met Killian's gaze, knowing the fight going on inside him. He would not abandon his family, as his father had, but if what Flint said was true, his family was short one more. 

Henry stepped forward, but Killian shook his head, "This...Jim. He is yours, by yet another woman you left for the sea?"

"I tragically could not provide for them as an honest merchant sailor..." Flint told him, his grin wide and wild. "She was much like your mother." 

Killian restrained himself from hitting the man, good and hard, sighing as he gathered himself up to his full height. "Why should we believe you?" Regina demanded, one hand coming down on Killian's shoulder before he could agree to anything. 

Regarding his father for a long time, Killian seemed to turn even more grey the longer he looked, "He's telling the truth." Killian told them finally. "As much as he is capable, in any case." 

He looked back to Emma, taking her hands and leaning up to kiss her softly, his lips brushing at her ear as he whispered, "I will come back to you, with my brother--"

"I love you, Killian. You don't need to do this alone." 

Killian looked up at her with eyes that made her shiver, "With him, I do." The meaning didn't escape her, her breath catching before she pressed her lips to the very corner of his mouth, sealing the promise. "I love you, Emma." 

Henry was quick on the uptake, going to his mother when Killian turned to Flint and wrapping his arms around her; Esmeralda producing Killian's sword from a sheath tucked in the folds of her skirts and handing it to him. "Good luck." She whispered, Meg producing his jacket from her chair, and offering a small twist of her mouth, soft and fond. 

"Take care of your mother," Killian told them pointedly, eyes catching on Mowgli with a subtle nod, "we're going to finish this as soon as I get back." 

Emma couldn't be stopped from following them outside, the huge and ornate ship anchored _over_ the city square, bobbing as though floating on something more than air. 

Lily and Maleficent were still human, staring down a crew of pirates who watched from the deck of the ship, their rotted teeth bared and snarls twisting their mouths at the two women who would easily kill them if given the chance. Lily made a grab for Killian as he strode past, his shoulders set in hard lines and his head ducked, and Emma's heart gave a squeeze of thanks that Lily and they had gotten close enough for Lily to know that what Killian was doing was not, really, his choice. 

Emma let Lily pull her into a hug, her eyes fixed on the ship and her love staring back at her from the deck of it. 

"Henry..." Emma murmured, "go get my red leather jacket, will you?" A slow smile crossed Emma's lips. "I need to get the Jolly ready for another voyage." 

"What's the plan?" Regina asked, arms crossed over her chest. 

"I'm going to save Killian from his father, before the bastard tries to kill him." Emma replied. 

"I'm coming with you." Regina told her immediately. 

"Count us in. Those pirates need to get their buns baked." Maleficent murmured, fixing her hair absently. Lily nodded, her eyes not wavering from Emma. 

"Emma--" Mary Margaret began, but Emma held up her hand to silence her. 

"No." Emma shook her head, "You're not coming with me. Esme and Meg will be okay with the kids, but if they need help, then I want them to be able to come to you and David." 

Mary Margaret looked from the villains that were going with her daughter to the children that were, really, her grandchildren, even if not by blood. "You just...come back with him, okay?" 

"I will, Mom." 

"I'm coming with you, too." Henry told her, standing at his full height, tall enough now to very nearly tower over her. 

Regina and Emma exchanged a look, both pursing their lips before they nodded. "Get your stuff; Esme, I'm going to need help to get out of this dress." 

Elsa and Anna were waiting inside, Elsa and Regina's eyes meeting; Elsa's chin rising, Anna didn't even bother to glance at her sister before she started talking, "Elsa and I will go with you, too. You're going to need all the help you can get. I mean, you've been through a lot, but--" 

Emma raised her hand with a small smile curling her lips, "Thank you, Anna. You and Elsa would be a great help." 

Anna blushed, nodding quietly and letting Emma pass into the room she'd gotten ready in, Esme's hands easily finding the fastenings and loosening the dress. Emma took a deep breath, and her lungs hurt in her chest, her skin felt tight, and her eyes pricked. "Mama," Esme whispered, her hand finding Emma's and pulling her into a hug. 

"He said we'd try again...I don't think I can." Emma murmured, her voice tight. 

Lily's hand found Emma's back, drawing her out of the embrace with her daughter and into one of her own, "I can take care of the rest, Esme, go grab your mother's gear, would you?" 

"Thank you," Emma whispered as Esme nodded and left with one last stroke through her mother's hair, "don't want to fall apart in front of them." 

"You won't, Emma." Lily murmured. "You never have before." 

"Yeah, but it's only a matter of time, isn't it?" 

"Don't talk like that." Lily whispered, releasing Emma finally and going to the fastenings a little less deftly than Esme had, but with more than enough care to keep the dress perfect. "You're stronger than even you give yourself credit for."

"I usually rely on Killian to know how strong I am, but, Lily, I can't do this anymore. I don't care if we get married, but with every failed attempt--" 

"It's starting to feel more and more like it's a jinx." Lily nodded, eyes bright and astute. "We're going to get him back, and I'm sending you on the damn honeymoon, to hell with the wedding." 

Emma snorted into laughter, tears running from her eyes, burning hot. "I just want to have some peace for more than a measly month." 

Lily wrinkled her nose, "I can't promise you anything, but we'll do our best." 

Emma laughed again, her make-up only just starting to run as she tried to wipe the tears away. 

Shimmying out of her dress, Emma reached up, pulling her crown out of her hair. The door opened quietly, Elsa and Esme slipping in, Esme laiden down with Emma's leather jacket, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and her black boots. 

Elsa flit forwards, taking the crown from her hands, the frost spreading over the flowers and making them shine like jewels. "Da worked for ages to make that." Esme told her, "I learned eight new swear words." 

Emma rolled her eyes, biting back a laugh at the image of Killian sitting down with the flowers, trying to knot the stems one-handed even though he had two now; used to the forgiving pull of rope on the Jolly instead of such breakable stems. "I'm so proud." 

Esme grinned, handing over her mother's clothes. "You need all the help you can get," Esme started, "I can handle the little ones on my own, you ought to take Meg with you, especially considering you're going up against pirates." Emma raised her brow, "She looks like she'd blow away in a good wind, but Da's been teaching her to fight." 

"Esme, I don't even want Henry coming with us. I won't endanger any more of my children." 

"You're not endangering anyone." Esme pointed out softly, "I'm only staying because of the little ones, but everyone going with you...every one of these people are volunteering...because we love you." 

Lily nodded, "Well, maybe not my mom, she's probably in it more because the pirates were gross and we've been bored." 

Emma groaned, shaking her head at the raucous grin that spread over Lily's features. "You're not voluntelling your sister that she has to come with us, Esme." 

"Penny, Mowgli, Dhandi, Rafi, Jenna, and Salima are all with Grams and Gramps--" Meg sighed as she pushed her way into the room, her sardonic lilt giving her an easy air, "What'd I miss now?" 

"Is Eden with them?" Emma asked. 

"Yes, but why is everyone staring at me?" 

"Because your sister was trying to throw you to the wolves!" Esme exclaimed like it was the most wonderful thing, throwing her arms around Meg's shoulders. 

"Ah. I would actually like to go with you. I can hold my own now," Meg's eyes slid to Emma's, her full lips twisting in just the same way that they had for Killian. Emma swallowed, nodding that she understood just what Meg wasn't saying. When they'd first met Meg, it was in the middle of a battle that Killian had just barely managed to save Meg from. 

"You can do good here, too, you know." Emma whispered. 

Meg's features softened, "If I stay here, I'll worry myself sick." 

Emma nodded, "Then you're coming with us." Meg's sharp, angular features lit up, her huge violet eyes going wide and bright, "Just please be careful?" 

"I will." Meg promised. 

"Okay, the Jolly is going to be pissed off enough as it is without Killian. That I'll be the one trying to captain this trip will make her want to kill me." 

"I still don't understand why the Jolly doesn't like you." Esme shook her head, bringing her raven black hair up into a bun behind the long, bright purple scarf she wore to keep the wild mane back. 

"Because I'm the reason Killian no longer lives on the high seas." Emma sighed, "In essence, she's jealous, and believe nothing that Killian tells you otherwise." 

Esme laughed, the golden bangles around her slim wrists tinkling gently as she tucked her bangs behind her ears. "The Jolly won't actually kill you, though, right?" 

"She wouldn't." Henry asserted, peeking in, "Um, mom, I've got your stuff, and I've already talked to the Jolly; she's pissed, and she's kind of raring to go." 

"How do you think you're going to find him?" Esme asked her easily, pulling Emma's hair up into a ponytail. 

"Finding the people we love is something this family does." Emma told her, brushing a wayward lock of hair back into place. 

"Along with saving the world and getting into trouble." Lily scoffed. "You and Henry especially." 

"You love us." Henry teased, grinning as he disappeared back out of the door. Lily wrinkled her nose, shrugging her grudging agreement. 

"I miss Killian already." 

Emma snorted, shaking her head, "Yeah, I think I know how that feels." 

Lily kissed her forehead, "Then let's go, princess." 

The motley crew of heroes and ex-villains trouped down the dock, the Jolly's flag fluttering in the wind. As soon as they came close, sails unfurled and the sea around her rocked the boat gently, ropes whipping free as they slackened, carrying the bags into the hold whether or not the person attached wanted to hang on. "Calm down, sweetheart, we have to let Killian figure out where his brother is before we can save him." Emma whispered to the ship, running her hand along the railing. The Jolly's personality was first and foremost shy; she hadn't let anyone but Killian see who she was until she had come to trust them all. At the mention of a brother of Killian, every rope and every sail shuddered. "It's not Liam, love." 

A cold wind shuddered over the ship, and Emma hummed her agreement, rubbing the smooth, polished wood as if to soothe the ship. "We can make the portal into the Enchanted Forest within the hour; I'll take the wheel." Henry assured his mother, "Go set yourself up in Killian's cabin." 

Emma's hand curled tight, but she didn't let any other sign of her tension show, "Who's bunking with me?" 

"I will." Elsa volunteered. 

"So will I." Regina muttered, carrying a small travel bag and looking none too happy about it. "Though if you snore--"

"No more than Henry does," Emma cut her off with a grin, "besides, I can take the night shift at the helm." 

"Besides, dear, we both know that Robin after an ale or two can out-snore a grizzly," Maleficient smirked, hands on her hips. "Lily and I will take the first mate's cabin: Henry, Anna, you two can take the hammocks in the bilge; Meg, you can sleep in the captain's quarters when your mother does." The motley crew of them nodded their assent, and split off, Anna and Henry headed for the helm while Regina and Elsa fell into step on either side of Emma, sheparding her below decks and into the familiar, salt-and-spice scent of Killian's rooms. 

Emma was seated on the bed, Regina moving to the desk and yanking open drawers at will until she let out a noise of approval, bringing out a bottle and five glasses. Pouring deftly, Regina handed the first glass to Emma, Lily and Maleficent joining them after a moment. 

Regina raised her glass, eyeing Emma, "The next wedding you two have will be on the deck of this ship, Emma, and then your mother can have all the pomp and circumstance she wants, because it won't be your real wedding." 

Emma let out a snort of laughter, cheersing Regina before downing the rum. "The next wedding I want to attend is yours, Regina. I just want Killian back safely."

"What Killian said before he left," Maleficent cut in before Regina could say a word, "I take to mean he wants all the help he can get?"

Emma's lips thinned, her eyes hard as she nodded, "If his father knows that I can find Killian wherever he goes, Flint will kill him, and he doesn't expect to last much past Flint revealing where Jim Hawkins is. If there's one thing I've learned from the few stories that Killian would tell me about him, it's that Flint does not play well with others. He left them because when Killian was born, he no longer got the attention from Killian's mother that he thought he was owed. When Killian was thirteen, Flint came swooping back into his life just after his mother's death, and just before Liam managed to get leave to collect him from the fleet. Flint led Liam on a merry chase, dangling Killian like bait, and Killian didn't know until the end that Flint was his father."

Regina's lips were pursed, reaching to refill Emma's glass. Maleficent scoffed slightly, stepping forward and waving her hand over the bottle, a golden glow settling into the glass. She caught Emma's eye and shrugged, "This bottle will never run out now."

Regina gave a twisted smile, shaking her head fondly at her friend and mentor. Lily raised her glass for a refill as well, and Regina obliged, barely taking her eyes off of Emma and the slump of her shoulders. "So, what's been keeping Flint alive all this time?"

Emma shook her head, "He should be dead. Liam had him brought up as a pirate." She whispered, picking at a loose thread on her jeans. 

"He's older than your three-hundred-year-old boyfriend, has a pirate ship that can _fly_ , and he managed to survive being hung." Lily summarized, "Nothing against Killian and his stories, but _damn_." Swilling down her second glass, Lily shook her head, moving to the window with its veiw of the port they were rapidly sailing away from. 

"There's a lot that could do it, though," Maleficent mused, "artifacts, curses, a deal with the right Dark Fairy, a place like Neverland, and it's not difficult to survive a hanging if you bribe the right guards and tie the right ropes."

"We're getting up to the portal now." Emma murmured, voice flat as she stared past Lily at the window. "If he's in a world like Neverland..." 

Regina leaned forward, grabbing Emma's hand, "Let Henry and I worry about that." She whispered, "You concentrate on finding him when he's ready to be found."

Emma met her eye, nodding solemnly, "Let's batten down the hatches. If they fly, we're going to have to move hell to keep up." 

"You stay here and get properly sloshed," Maleficent ordered, "Lily and I _can_ fly; we'll be able to give you the heading even if they do fly the whole way, and we both know that this old girl will move hell and anything else that needs moving in order to get the pirate back." 

Regina nodded, "And, besides, we're _in_ something of Killian's. If we want, we could cast a tracking spell, and we'd be taken right to him." 

"We can't do that." Emma shook her head, "Killian'll get killed if we do that." 

"Emma," Regina reached for the Saviour's hand, catching her eye and not letting her look away, "we have your back." 

Lily nodded, "We do, Em. You wouldn't give up on me; you didn't back down from saving Regina and Robin. We would never give up on you."

"Robin and Regina was true love that needed a little nudge; this is true love that needs...I don't know. A fortress." Emma sighed, shaking her head. 

"Zelena was a little nudge?" Regina asked, her brows going up. 

"You had Zelena taken care of on your own. Dorothy was the challenging bit." Emma shrugged a shoulder, her lips pulling up at the mention of her goddaughter. 

Zelena had given birth to a beautiful baby girl not long before Emma had beaten the Darkness once and for all; Regina and Robin barely able to hang on to each other, even with Zelena out of the way in the holding cell Emma was even all too on-board with keeping her in. 

Regina had taken the little girl into her arms and had immediately fell in love. Robin, still hating himself for having fallen for Zelena's ploy, had let his self-loathing spill over, and Emma had only managed to stop it by taunting him that he would soon be just as evil as she was at the time. Regina hadn't named the little one, waiting for Robin and knowing--having faith-- that he would return. Reuniting them had been what had made a crack in the darkness that had taken over Emma. She found herself able to go to Killian, to see him and Henry and take something very much like hope from seeing them be not simply allies working to bring her back, but a family working to make itself whole once more. 

Henry and Killian had brought her back, more than anything else ever could have, Merlin included; and that they never found him was no surprise to Killian, or to Henry, because they had both known, in their hearts, that it wouldn't be some sorcerer to bring Emma home; it would be the three of them, and the love they had managed to grow for each other. 

When Emma had come back, battle-worn and nightmare-ridden and a mess in the worst way, Regina had laid the baby girl in her arms, a smirk in her voice as she introduced Emma as the first to know her name: Dorothy Samantha Mills, whose Auntie Em was the Saviour. 

Emma felt a flash of utter gratitude for Regina coming with her, leaving Dorothy with Robin and Roland, which meant that mother's little princess would be going absolutely wild for however long they were gone. As if reading her mind, Regina caught her eye, her crimson red lips twisting wryly, "I'm going to come home to madness." 

Emma snickered, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure Esme is going to dye Salima's hair pink." 

Regina burst out laughing, letting her head fall back, "She's been trying to get Esme to do that for how long now?" 

Lily wrinkled her nose, trying to fight her giggles. Maleficent pressed her lips together, her ice-blue eyes glinting with laughter. 

"And who is the poor soul who's volunteered to babysit?" Emma asked pointedly, raising her brows at Lily. 

"They behave with us." Maleficent sighed, examining her nails pointedly. "It's one of the perks of being a scary dragon bitch. Along with saving your asses and looking so fucking fabulous." 

Regina clinked her glass against Maleficent's, leaning back and wrapping an arm around Lily where she sat on the arm of Regina's seat. "Oh, please, you two are just adorable." Elsa sighed, grinning as Emma turned her head to grin over her shoulder. Maleficent flicked her fingers at Elsa, and a small spark of magic twinged the end of Elsa's nose, her own flick of magic freezing the rum in Maleficent's glass as she raised it to her lips, the hunk of ice smacking her in the face and tinkling as she tilted the glass back. 

"Cute." Regina murmured, taking Maleficent's glass for her and melting the rum down in an instant. "Let's behave like grown-ups, shall we, ladies?" 

"Yes, mother," Maleficent sighed, rolling her eyes and downing her rum neatly. Elsa hid her grin, ears burning as she leaned her shoulder against Emma's, "we'll behave ourselves...for now." 

Elsa chuckled as Maleficent cocked a brow, winking at her saucily. 

"Before we drink any more, we should maybe go get food." 

"Don't want food," Emma replied, "makes me sick." She leaned forward, grabbing the bottle by the neck and grinning. Regina snorted, shaking her head. The ship began to pitch and sway; Emma neatly catching Lily's tumbler before it could roll off of Killian's desk. Emma raised a brow at Elsa, grinning, "Hold on to your butts." 

~

"Who's the lass yer marryin'?" Flint asked, trying to get Killian to drink with him even as Killian remained in a teeth-gritting silence. 

Killian looked out over the clouds behind them, wishing he'd leapt through the portal the moment they'd taken off from the sea to the skies again. 

Flint had been kind to him, once. Before Killian had an inkling who his father was, or even that his father had lived past Killian's infancy. Flint had offered him a chance to be a sailor, even at his young age. He'd taught him about the sea and the sky; and about the love of a ship for her captain.

"Stayin' silent for days'll be difficult, lad." 

Killian turned blue eyes on the sorry excuse he had for a father, his jaw set and his gaze like the steel of his sword or Emma's gun. He would rather lose words forever than speak to the man that broke his mother's heart and turned his brother on the road to his death. 

"You took him from 'is own weddin', Cap'n! Let the boy be." A jovial voice called, Killian's knees nearly knocked out from under him as a huge hand clapped him on the back. 

"Lad, this is John Silver, my first mate." Flint told introduced them, "John, this is me lad--" 

Killian nearly growled, and Silver knocked his hand from its journey to the dagger tucked into Killian's jacket. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain Jones." Flint glanced over at Silver in surprise, and Killian couldn't help raising a brow. Silver shrugged, "You're something of a legend." 

Killian's mouth quirked, even as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Pleasure to meet you, then, master Silver. How long have you been with Flint?" 

The venom in Killian's voice put a small smile on Silver's twisted mouth, his gap-toothed grin damnably near fond. The prickle of instinct that sounded awfully like Emma spoke up about trusting this man, especially for how trustworthy Killian had a feeling he would paint himself. 

"Silver has been my left-hand man for years, son." 

Killian glanced down at the right hand of the jovial man, and found a hook much like his had been, his left leg a peg from the knee down. Killian nodded to the appendage, "I lost my left hand to the Dark One." Silver looked surprised, glancing at Killian's intact left hand, "He kept it, and my future wife reattached it." 

Silver looked almost awed, his hand going to the curve of his hook. "She's a powerful one, isn't she?" 

"The Saviour of the Enchanted Forest. And Arendelle, Neverland, and anywhere else she's needed."

Silver's eyes narrowed to slits, his mouth twisting down, "She's a hero." 

"I am, too." Killian stood tall and proud at that, his jaw a hard line. 

"I wouldn' be so proud o' that if I was you." Silver growled, his hook flashing, "None of us take too kindly to the heroes." 

"I don't give a damn what you take kindly to, Master Silver. I'm not here to win friends and influence people." Killian snapped, the amusement in the back of his mind at the reference either man would never get kept carefully off of his face. "Just because you got me on this ship doesn't mean I will let you change me. I'm here to find my half-brother and protect him, I couldn't care less what you expect you'll do to me." 

"Oh, boy, it won't be done _to_ you. By the end of this trip, you'll be back to your wicked ways," Silver smiled, his teeth half-rotten and half replaced with gold, "make no mistake."

~

Emma and Meg were curled under the quilt on Killian's bed, the fabric pulled over both their heads while Emma made pictures made of her magic dance against the top of it. 

"I don't want to go back near the temple you found us in." Meg sighed the secret, and Emma looked over to see her daughter's eyes shining slightly. 

"You are one of the most fearless people I know, Meg. What is it?" 

Meg glanced at her mother's eyes and then back away, and Emma's instincts let out a scream of alarm. "I-I...have you ever done something stupid...for someone you thought loved you?" 

Emma's brows went up, "I didn't tell you the story of Henry's father, did I?" Meg looked at her mother, tilting her head slightly as if to ask what she was talking about. Emma let out a sigh, wrapping an arm around Meg's tiny waist and shifting more onto her side so that she could look into her daughter's eyes while she told this story, "I was very young when Henry was born, Meg--"

"You were in prison, and Aunt Regina adopted him from you." 

"Yes, but this is the story of how I got in imprisoned...how I got pregnant, too." Emma let out another soft sigh, building herself up to try to explain this to her daughter better than she had to anyone else, simply because Meg needed it. "When I was young, Meg, I was an orphan. No one loved me, no one wanted me; and I didn't think anyone ever would. I got passed from family to family, home to home, because no one wanted to keep me. Finally, I ran away from the system: I decided I was better off trying to make it on my own than being given hope only for it to be snatched away," Emma took a breath, licking her lips and holding on to the knowledge that she had a family now; and not just Mary Margaret and David, but a loving partner, her children, and friends. "I met a man named Neal--yes, your uncle is named after him. Neal showed me interest, even love, and I fell hard and fast. He asked me to do something...more illegal than I had done yet. I was to steal something so that we could run away together and live happily. But when it came down to it, Neal gave me over for the crime, and disappeared before I even knew I was pregnant. 

"Neal was Rumplestiltskin's son, and I was the Saviour, although I didn't know that yet. And when Neal was told that I was connected to the world his father came from, he ran. I spent a few years in prison for it, and Henry was adopted out of my arms--" 

"Why the _bloody hell_ would Grandma Snow and Grandpa Charming name Neal after someone who did that to you?!" Meg burst, her cheeks turning bright red with her anger. 

Emma gave a hint of a smile, gently petting through Meg's hair to soothe her, "He wasn't evil, Meg. He died to save the town, Henry and I. I forgave him." 

Meg licked her lips, taking a deep breath, "Mum, I...before Esme took me in, I had made a deal...with someone I shouldn't have. I was in love with this...this guy, and he died. And to get him back, I made a deal with Hades, the king of the Underworld. He owned me...maybe he still does. Esme and her family figured out what was going on, and they blocked him from being able to get to me--I don't know how. They took me in. But...the deal--Hades would only own me if--" 

"If the guy didn't really love you." Emma filled in, voice soft. She kissed her daughter on the forehead, pulling her close. "Meg, sweetheart, I love you. Your da and your siblings love you, too. That idiot that hurt you after you did your best to save him? He doesn't matter. What matters now is finding your happiness, and holding onto it." 

"I just feel so stupid...and I don't know if--" 

"You're not stupid, you've never been stupid. You're just young." Emma whispered, "We all have been, at one point or another." 

Meg snorted, shaking her head as she settled against Emma, closing her eyes. 

Gently, Emma summoned up her magic, easing Meg into an even deeper sleep; one that she would not wake from until Emma let her. It was a peaceful, painless sleep, Emma knew from experience, so when she carefully got out of bed and fetched Regina, Meg didn't so much as change her breathing as Regina carefully pulled out her heart. 

"I don't like this, Swan." Regina warned, handling the heart like a baby bird as she passed it to Emma. 

"Believe me, neither do I, but if Meg is still held under this deal, coming back to the Enchanted Forest was probably not the best of ideas, and I would like to know if my daughter is under threat of disappearing."

Regina conceded the point, sitting back slightly and watching as Emma let her hands begin to pool her magic, glowing brightly enough to illuminate through Meg's heart. 

Written there, clear as day, was the contract she had signed to officiate the deal, and both Regina and Emma pursed their lips, glancing at one another. "If Esme and the gypsies managed to protect her before, there may be something in their magic still working." 

"The gypsies are dead, Regina," Emma reminded her quietly, "their magic is gone with them." 

Regina took back Meg's heart, just as gently replacing it into Meg's chest as she slept on. "Alright, fine. This Hades character shows up and demands Meg back...what is your game plan?" 

"I don't know...what can I do? I mean, the gypsies had different magic than we do, we can't protect her the same way they did." 

"No, we can't." Regina agreed softly. "So what is your gut telling you to do?" 

"My gut? It's telling me that I need to turn back and take Meg home, even though I'll lose Killian." 

Regina's features softened, the look one of complete kindness because she knew what it cost Emma to say that, she really did. "What if we sent Maleficent with her?" 

"They can't take the portal with Maleficent as a dragon, she'd die." Emma protested, shaking her head. 

"This is some Sophie's choice crap, Swan, and I won't let it ruin your happily ever after." Regina insisted, her dark eyes narrowing in concentration, the pinch in her mouth pulling. "You were...out in the world, have you ever heard of this Hades guy?"

"Of course," Emma replied on a whisper, "he's a Greek god from myth. King of the dead, actually kind of like Rumple in a few respects."

"Okay, so what's his weakness?" 

"He doesn't have one." 

"Everyone has a weakness, Swan." Regina reminded her coaxingly. 

"He...one of the myths is about his wife. Persephone. He...tricked her? Something like that. He tricked her into becoming his wife, and her mother got angry, made a deal that for half the year Persephone would live with Hades, and for the other half she would live with her mom. It's why the year is half cold and barren, and half warm and bountiful." 

Regina's brows were raised high, but there was a glint of something devious in her eyes that gave Emma hope. "Well, maybe that's how we could get leverage?" 

Emma bit her lip, not liking it, but not having any other ideas; trying to think of the myths that she barely paid attention to in school. 

"You can remove the enchantment. I'm going to go above and tell Maleficent to be on alert for anything that smells like fire or brimstone." 

Emma quirked her lips in a sorry attempt at a smile, nodding her thanks as she turned back to her daughter and laid down where she had been, easing her out of the sleep just as carefully as she had eased her into it.

Meg hummed, mumbling something as she shifted, throwing an arm around Emma's stomach and curling into her shoulder. Emma let herself smile, wrapping Meg up in her arms; heartbreakingly thankful that she and Killian had found the two young girls in the smoldering remains of the caravan once all the violence had ended. The Enchanted Forest had gotten word that a new king would ascend the thrown of one of their neighbouring kingdoms by force; and when Killian got word that this new king was a descendant of the one he had served as a naval man under--the king that had sent Liam to his death and Killian to Neverland and that hell--Killian was the first to volunteer to travel to the kingdom and try to diplomatically handle the situation. Mary Margaret and David hadn't had to ask if Emma was going with him, Henry and Mowgli left with Regina and Robin while the princess and her pirate traveled. What they found on the outskirts of the forest, where the plains of the kingdom bordered their own, was nothing short of horrific, as Killian had known it would be. 

The kingdom was based in farming, work aided exponentially by gypsies who would travel to entertain and help any farmer who would pay them to help take in the crops before they were ready to move on. But this new force wanted the gypsies gone; believed that they were evil because they lived barefoot and more wild than even Robin and his men. Killian and Emma had been too late to save Esme's family, and the friends they traveled with ran before Esme and Meg were even pulled from the wreckage outside of a temple that the gypsies had created and the new king had ordered burned. It was short work to overthrow him: Killian presenting himself as the diplomat while Emma arrived at the meetings dressed somewhere between a gypsy and a queen, head held high and proud as she declared that his rule would be shorter-lived than any other in the land, because she was half-tempted to have him flogged. In the forest, Mary Margaret contacted the rest of their neighbouring kingdoms and before the king could even rise from his throne in derision at the impertinence of the little lost princess, the armies of five kingdoms had been rallied. 

Word spread quickly that Emma and Killian were an unstoppable force, so when they placed a commoner who had helped them stand up to the soldiers who were trying to burn the gypsies alive, it was not questioned that he would be fair and strong. 

When night finally fell, Regina came to wake Emma, though she'd barely been to sleep; the course they were set on was only tentative, Maleficent would be going up under cover of night to see if they were flying, and what direction it was in. Anna, Meg, and Emma met on the deck, Meg and Anna the worse for wear for having slept through the day, and Maleficent as polished as she always was. 

"I'm a queen, dear. I don't do drool spots and bedhead," Maleficent murmured at Anna's stare of incredulity. 

Meg mumbled something Emma was fifty-percent sure was rude and one hundred-percent sure was taught to her by Killian, and Emma rose to the wheel, the Jolly's wood smooth and cool under her hands, and the sky stretched out unendingly above them. Emma took a deep breath, tipping her head back to stare into the sky, and something caught out of the corner of her eye. 

The light was faint, winking into existence just barely, and moving too quickly to be a star. With a quiet swear, Emma waved Maleficent up to her, pointing it out. "That's Killian, I'd bet my wedding night." Emma told her. 

"He's leaving you breadcrumbs. How sweet." Maleficent half-sneered, "I'll go make sure, then, shall I?" 

"Keep the lights out," Emma ordered quietly but forcefully, and Anna froze from going to light a lamp, "If we're close enough to see a light, so are they." 

"Won't they be able to see the ship anyway?" Anna asked in a stage whisper that was as close as she ever got to actually whispering. 

"No, it's hidden from their sight. I spelled it that way a year ago when we were going after the damn kraken for Ursula." Emma shook her head, still staring up at the tiny light. 

Maleficent climbed onto the topmost rail of the deck, leaping and transforming mid-fall to skim silently over the water and gain altitude before getting anywhere near the light. Her jet-black scales were perfect, and the beat of her wings was as quiet as possible until she had gained enough altitude to glide towards the source of the light, circling around the ship close enough that one sneeze and the whole thing would have gone down in flames so that she could land, human once more, on the deck of the Jolly. "You're right, it's him." 

"We might need to fall behind." Emma murmured, "Chart out where we can go if they start to travel over land." 

"These waters can be dangerous," Maleficent murmured, "we need to watch out for that, too." 

"And the hits just keep on comin'," Emma sighed, "I really don't want to deal with...tentacles. Or fish monsters." 

"If we're careful, you won't have to." Maleficent sighed. 

Things were quiet as Emma sailed, breathing in the familiar scent of the ocean and the wood of the ship. The gentle creak and groan of the ship around them was soothing enough that Emma felt like she could float away; her breathing deep and even. Meg was humming to herself as she braided Anna's hair, Maleficent bent over star charts with the neat, spidery scrawl of Killian's. Emma kept her eye on the flickering light, keeping course steady and just hoping that the wind didn't blow that little light out. Shaking her hair off her shoulders, Emma took a deep breath, sending a wish that Killian was with her; that he would sneak up behind her and take the wheel from her fingers, bleeding warmth into her back with his arms cradling her against his chest. 

Emma's eyes snapped open, and before her very eyes her breath billowed in a cloud of white, the temperature dropping even as she stood there. "Emma!" Maleficent called, frost charging towards her over the dark wood as if it had a mind of its own. Malefient leapt back, scrabbling backwards as the ice snuffed out the single light Maleficent had lit to help her study. Emma shuddered as the ice seemed to rake fingers down her back, her breath stolen from her lungs and tears springing to her eyes as the clutch of pain around her chest. "Emma!" Maleficent snarled again, and this time Emma had to look. Maleficent's ice blue eyes were turning their dragon green, and Emma realized that the impossible cold was enough to be forcing her to shift. 

"Don't you dare!" Emma snapped, her hand flicking out and sending a wave of energy with it: her power breaking the ice around Maleficent as Anna and Meg went screaming for Elsa and Regina. The Jolly rocked as it barrelled through the ice forming around it, and Emma bit her lip as she sent up a prayer that the Jolly had enough momentum to keep going; knowing that it was a useless hope. Emma went for Maleficent, slipping over the ice that seemed to reach up and grab her. "Maleficent, go to Lily!" 

Shaking ice off of her, Maleficent let out a growl, sliding the same way Emma had, impacting with the railings even as the Jolly snapped rope to pick her up and move her. 

"Emma!" Elsa cried, Regina already snapping fireballs into existence. 

"The ice is climbing like it's got a mind of its own!" Emma bellowed, "Regina, get up to the crow's nest and fire free the Jolly! Elsa, do whatever you can to figure this thing the hell out!" 

"Emma!" Elsa screamed, her hands throwing up to gather snow to cushion Emma's fall. Emma rolled down the snow bank. 

The Jolly wrapped a rigging around Emma's waist, lifting her to her feet at the helm, Emma's hands wrapping around the wheel until she was white-knuckled, whipping the wheel to the aft, trying to shimmy free of the ice chunks. "Regina!" 

Fireballs flew from the crow's nest, and Emma righted the wheel back onto the course they had been on. "Emma, keep the rudder free!" Regina bellowed, "Elsa, please tell me you have the power to dissolve this, because my fireballs are barely making a dent!" 

Emma cast the wheel starboard, the ship rocking as bigger fireballs hit the ice surrounding it, the water flash-boiled. "I-I've never seen ice like this!" Elsa stammered, her voice as desperate as if she had lost Anna all over again. 

"Mum! Mum, Maleficent and Aunt Lily are going wild!" Meg shouted, not daring to go all the way to the ice-slick deck. 

"Get Henry to tell them a goddamned story, then!" Emma burst, "I can't afford to have them lose control!" 

"Emma! Emma, there's something in the sky!" Regina shrieked, "And it is most certainly not your boyfriend!" 

Emma's eyes clapped upwards, widening as she took in the cloud of white that was bearing down on them with a caw that made Emma's ears ring. Emma dropped to the deck as the thing swooped, this time without Elsa's snow to cushion her fall. 

Regina let out a scream as she was swept up in the thing's claws, and Elsa raised her hands; a snarl on her lips not at all befitting of a queen as she let loose a burst of her own snow magic, hitting unerringly at the thing's heart. 

It let out a high-pitched cry, its claws releasing Regina over the icy, treacherous waters below, and Emma let out a wail of her own, every ounce of power in her body aimed to catch the falling queen. The Jolly beat her to it, though; forming a net from every rope it had to spare in order to catch her safely, gently placing her back in the crows nest as it whipped out; a loose rigging coming unhinged from its mooring to crack into the beak of the snow bird, a snap of bone breaking ringing out even as the Jolly pitched against its icy prison. Elsa lost her footing, very nearly rolling into the black waters before Meg had managed to run up the last few steps from below decks to reach her. Yelling as the ice managed to grab hold of her, Meg fought to keep Elsa's hand as the ship pitched the side, nearly rolling Emma and Regina off as well. 

"Meg, sweetheart, it's okay." Elsa breathed to her, staring up with her wide blue eyes, "You can let go." 

"No!" Meg cried, gritting her teeth and pulling, letting the ice hold onto her; letting it bite into her as she dug in and _pulled_ to get Elsa from the slide she was helpless to. Elsa let out a harsh breath, wrapping her free arm around Meg's neck and letting her haul Elsa to her feet. 

"Are you okay?" Elsa breathed. Meg nodded, wrapping her scrawny arm around Elsa's waist as solidly as she could, bringing her with her every move as she moved them to below decks. "Emma...!"

"Go! There's nothing more we can do!" Emma grit out, "Jolly, get Regina down! We have to stop!" The Jolly pitched viciously as the bird swept around and out of the water, coming frighteningly close to upending them completely. "We'll have to catch up to him: we have to stop!" 

"Emma, wait!" Elsa shouted, "I have a better idea!" Shaking back her sleeves, Elsa walked back out onto the deck, her ever step freezing on top of the ice around her so that it was her own magic she was standing on. "Hard right!" 

Emma swung the wheel half-frozen to her hands, wincing at the pull of her skin. As the Jolly moved, Elsa raised her hands before her, closing her eyes in concentration as the bird let out an earth-shattering caw, rounding at them for another go.

Elsa let out a blast of her power that was enough to rock the Jolly hard against its icy prison, and Emma clung on to the wheel, watching with wide eyes as the blast of power grew and grew until a snow monster stood there, breathing deep before letting out a roar that vibrated the night around them, Elsa slipping off of her feet and into Meg's tiny frame. "Go!" 

The monster grunted, lifting its head to regard the bird swooping over and around the sea in front of them, readying for another attack. It let out another, powerful bellow, leaping off of the boat only to smash through the icy layer on top of the water and disappear into its depths, Elsa and Meg running to lean over the edge confusedly. Regina snorted, shaking her head at the thing, but before she could pull herself to her feet, the ice before them cracked wholly, and the Jolly shuddered as it was freed from its prison; its monstrous saviour rising from the depths on a plume of ice created from under it, rising high above them and regarding the bird even as Emma hauled at the wheel, nearly biting through her lip trying to navigate between the ice chunks so that the hull of the ship would suffer as little damage as possible. 

"Impressive, Elsa." Regina complimented in her dry way, "How long can your ice man hold the thing off for?" 

"Until it--" Elsa was cut off as, with another deafening caw, the bird shot straight through the chest of Elsa's ice creature, sending shards scattering down into the water hard enough that the waves nearly jostled Elsa and Meg off the side of the ship. 

"Until it does that." Emma finished on a sigh, "Just one time I would really like it if things went even _remotely_ smoothly." 

"Jolly, just get us out of here!" Meg demanded of the ship, rushing over still-slippery decks to get to the other side, her mane of brown hair swaying out over her shoulder as she looked over the side of the ship like she was calculating something. 

It was a look that Emma didn't like sitting on the face it normally belonged to: Killian's. Seeing it on Meg's was somehow worse. 

"Mum, hard to port!" Meg yelled over her shoulder, "Aunt Regina, help me with the cannons! If we aim this right, we'll be able to get out of this cleanly!" Emma did as she was told, ruing the day that she ever let Killian teach their children how to pirate, because of course Meg would become a captain. "Elsa, go get Henry and Anna! They're going to want to be here for this." With a smile that Emma was entirely sure she wished she'd never seen before, Meg hauled one of the cannons all on her own into place. 

Emma and Regina exchanged a wide-eyed look, Regina sliding down the stairs to the main deck and running to Meg's side at the next cannon. 

~

Back in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret was brushing out Penny's short hair; listening as Belle read a story to the others from Arabian Nights. 

Penny's small shoulders rose and fell as she let out a sigh that seemed to be too big for her tiny frame. Dhandi's genie Eden glanced as she swayed with the baby in one arm and Neal on her hip, her lips pouting out, "What is it, little one?" 

Penny looked up, her big brown eyes mournful as she took another deep breath, "Mama and Daddy are always goin' on adventures an' leavin' us behind..." 

"Oh, no, baby." Mary Margaret sighed, "Your mom and dad love you guys, and that's why they'd never want you to be in danger."

"Do you know why your daddy went, sweetheart?" Eden asked as Mary Margaret braided Penny's hair into her signature pigtails. "Your daddy believes in family above all else. And he just found out that he has a brother, so he has to find him, sweetheart." 

Penny sighed again, looking over at Mowgli, Jenna, Salima, Dhandi, and Rafi gathered in Esmeralda's arms; all looking as sad as she did, and all looking as hopeful, too. "Mum and dad have made this family, Pen." Esme murmured softly, her own brown eyes kind as she regarded the smallest of them, "They chose us." 

"They wouldn't ever think about letting any of you slip away." Mary Margaret murmured, pulling the little one into a hug. 

David offered up his arm to Penny, pulling her into a half-hug as Belle turned back to the story book with Penny cuddled under David's arm. 

Mary Margaret glanced up as the door quietly opened, Robin, Roland, and Dorothy slipping in, Mary Margaret getting up and ushering them into the kitchen, "Are you guys okay?" 

Roland nodded. "We wanted to see how the little ones are." Robin murmured, letting Dorothy reach for her favourite babysitter; Mary Margaret easily taking the baby easily. 

"We're okay," Mary Margaret nodded quietly, ruffling Roland's dark curls, "you feelin' lonely, boys?" Roland nodded, smiling, his dimples on display. "Do you want to have some story time? Belle's reading from One Thousand and One Nights, and David and I are going to make mashed potatoes and roast chicken." 

Roland brightened up, looking up at his father hopefully, and Robin laughed to himself, "Thank you, Mary Margaret." 

Snow White grinned, shrugging, "Regina might've mentioned that you're not the gourmet so much as the Merry Men were." 

Robin laughed lightly, "I can, at least, manage eggs and a sandwich." 

"It's more than I can say for Charming." Mary Margaret shook her head, grinning, "He once burned a grilled cheese so bad that the pan almost started to melt." 

Robin's brows rose, a look of awe on his face. "That takes talent." 

Mary Margaret giggled, nodding as she put a finger to her lips, doing a little dance with Dorothy as she led the three Miller-Hoods out into the main room with the rest of them. 

"When we're done the book, we might watch the movie." Esme was saying, "Though it is a little scary sometimes." 

Eden drifted over, grinning. "Aladdin and Genie have a story in there, don't they?" 

"Of course," Belle laughed, "some of the best stories in the world are in this book, why wouldn't they be?" Eden turned bright pink over her green, giggling as she passed the baby over to Robin, Mowgli sliding to the floor and running for Esme's gathering. 

"You're so good at that." David chuckled, shaking his head. Eden wrinkled her nose at him, crossing her arms over her chest. He turned his head to Robin and the children, grinning at them and Dorothy cooing in Mary Margaret's arms. "Come for dinner, archer?" 

"Only if you'll have me, Your Highness." Robin replied sardonically, still smiling. 

"I honestly think that we can't take any more children in here." Eden muttered, shaking her head. 

"Or you could expand the rooms like Howl." Salima piped up to her genie, her black brows raising and a smile curling her mouth as Eden wrinkled her nose again at the goading little girl, throwing up her hands and the rooms immediately expanded, shifting and changing. Salima giggled, leaping into Eden's arms and laughing. 

"Howl's more of a drama-queen than I am, brat." 

"Uh-huh." Esme, David, and Mary Margaret hummed in perfect unison. 

Salima giggled manically as Eden put her down. "Terrors, this whole darn family." 

"But you love us." Esme teased, grinning. "C'mon, Ro, join the dog pile, you might as well." 

Roland let out a yell, leaping into the lot of limbs Esme was nearly buried under, Esme grunting under the impact. 

"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked, handing Dorothy over to Eden while she took her baby girl from Robin, cooing at the baby and letting her suckle on the end of Mary Margaret's pinky finger. 

"Fine." Esme squeaked, "Choking--not breathing." 

Belle laughed, shaking her head as she plucked up Salima and sat back down with the large book propped in front of them. Dhandi hid her grin as she ducked behind Rafi's back, trying not to giggle at Eden. 

David took the baby from Mary Margaret's arms, kissing her cheek and cradling her in his arms protectively. "They'll come back safe," Mary Margaret whispered to her husband. "They always do." 

David nodded, still curling his hand around the baby's tiny back. "They better. I applaud them both, but this many kids would kill us." 

Mary Margaret giggled, shaking her head. "We have a system!" Penny told them bravely. 

Esme nodded decided, pecking a kiss to Penny's forehead. "We do. And it works." 

Mary Margaret scooped Penny up, tossing her in her arms so that she burst into giggling screams, "Teach us your ways!" Mary Margaret laughed her plea, tickling Penny wildly. 

"Having little angels like us can't be taught!" Rafi told them. 

"It's a gift." Dhandi agreed, nodding solemnly. 

David turned to take in the people gathered around Belle for a story, "You're all mad."


	2. Irresistible

The hot sun beat down on the ship, Emma and Meg collapsed together under the mast of heat exhaustion; the ice they had been trapped in would have been a blessing at that point. There was not a breath of wind at all, the Jolly helplessly bobbing in the water, not a chance her sails would so much as ripple. 

Elsa had frozen her room into an ice box for relief, but Emma and Meg had stayed out of it too long; the heat of the day baking them until it seemed like the water below them was starting to simmer. "M-Meg," Emma croaked, flopping her hand out for her daughter's, summoning all of her energy to grip Meg's wrist and _move_. 

It was one of those do-or-die moments, like Regina vanishing the rope bridge, or seeing King Arthur hold a blade to her son's throat that made her power snap; the two of them disappearing in a cloud of pearly smoke. 

"Swan!" Regina half-shouted as she and Meg collapsed together in the frigid cold, and Emma knew immediately why that was not good. The cold was enough to have her heart seizing in her chest, both she and her daughter gasping in the cold. "I knew you'd been gone too long." Regina put out her hands, and Emma could breathe a little better, Regina's healing magic working wonders already. 

"Lily, help Meg!" Henry ordered, desperately, "You're your own space heater, you can help her!" 

Emma stirred, trying to bat away Regina's hands for Meg, but Regina held firm, moving as Lily swept down beside her, taking Meg's thin frame into her arms and humming quietly with the power of the dragon contained in the body of the girl. 

Lily looked up at Henry with the eyes of the dragon, her teeth threatening to elongate as she opened her mouth to speak, "You'd better start telling me a story, kid." 

"Put your silver tongue to good use." Maleficent agreed on a growl. 

"She's breathing fine, Emma," Lily reassured as Henry looked to Anna for a story he could tell. 

Henry took a deep breath, words coming to him in a rush; Lily breathing a little easier as Henry's ability to tell a story wove around them. They had first found that Henry had the ability to tell a story that would tame a dragon when Henry had started to tell a story to keep Lily from rampaging after King Arthur when he put a blade to Henry's throat to try to take Excalibur from Emma. Lily had calmed down almost immediately, Henry's voice calming her down perfectly. Henry's status as Author had transitioned from the broken pen into his voice: the power of it calming both dragons, and all the wild rumpus of his siblings. 

Regina listened with half an ear as she pulled Emma up into her arms, taking a blanket from Elsa and wrapping them both up so that Emma could use her body heat. Emma closed her eyes, her head cradled in the curve of Regina's shoulder and neck, Meg's hand still in hers. 

Lily cuddled with Meg, her skin glowing slighting with the fire within her as Meg yawned. Henry's voice washed over them, like a slow wave of fresh air; but Emma realized that it wasn't just his his voice washing over them; it was wind. Emma breathed deep, her eyes opening as the wind itself blew breath into her lungs and cleared the haze of the heat. Henry's voice summoned a cold rain that began to beat on the aged wood over their heads, and Regina gasped in surprise, looking up as an absolute downpour sounded down from skies that hadn't seen a cloud in days. 

Henry kept talking; Elsa slowly easing down the freezing enchantment until Emma and Meg were simply asleep, the others staring at each other in confusion as Henry continued to tell his story, even with the fear in his eyes. 

Anna bent, carefully lifting Emma out of Regina's arms and laying her on the bed; Lily aided by Regina in stowing Meg right beside her mother before Regina was dashing out of the cabin and up to the deck in a wild rush, her breath catching as she stepped out into the downpour of rain from a clear sky. She turned as the sound of Maleficent catching up reached her, holding up her hands, "My son has never had magic!" 

"Honey, if your son didn't have magic, none of us would even be here. He's the Truest Believer: magic like his has never been seen before, and won't be seen again." 

Regina crossed her arms over her chest, casting her gaze around them, "Then let's get the pirate and get home, before any more surprises spring up." 

"Surprises like a pirate riding a couple of sea turtles?" Lily asked, voice high as she stared out over the water. 

Regina moved over to her side, watching as a pirate did, indeed, ride a couple of sea turtles over the waves. "I'd say it's a mirage, but you see it, too." Regina groaned. 

Maleficent snorted, shaking her head, "Ahoy!" She shouted over the water, and the pirate's head turned to look over at them with such a stark expression of surprise that Regina couldn't help but feel the start of a migraine in the back of her head, "Who are you, pirate?" 

"My name's Captain Jack Sparrow!" The pirate called back, "And what does such a lovely company of the fairer sex have business in these parts for?" 

"We are headed _through_ these parts, pirate." Regina replied, "Do you want us to rescue you or not?" 

Captain Jack seemed to speculate for a moment, looking around the open ocean they were currently bobbing in, before he nodded once, "Who's the captain of your vessel?" 

Regina looked up to the rigging, "Jolly, are you going to answer that, or shall I?" She asked quietly, and the ship shuddered in response, reaching down to scoop the pirate off of his companions as the man let out a shriek of girlish terror. "Welcome to the Jolly Roger, pirate. Her captain is the one we're chasing, so right now, she is her own captain." 

Shaking, Jack set foot onto the enchanted ship, "There's only one ship's ever been able to do this in these waters." Jack told them, "And let's best hope this weirdness doesn't bring it back." 

Regina raised a brow, her lips pursed as she stared him down, but Jack simply side-stepped her, looking with a critical eye at the ship. 

"To my eye, this ship be proper. Who is the captain, anyway?" 

"Killian Jones." Henry answered, appearing from below decks. "And what is this other ship you speak of?" 

"The Queen Anne's Revenge," Jack told him with a smirk, "And I must say, a ship of this caliber full of beauties and one deckhand, this Jones is a very lucky man." 

Regina shook her head minutely as Maleficent went to contradict it, rolling her eyes. "Henry, could you fetch Jack a shirt and ask Anna to come to the helm? Mal, we need to make sure we haven't fallen behind." Maleficent nodded once, her eyes changing colour immediately as she climbed up to the upper deck and went to the rail, shifting as easily as breathing into her dragon form and flying above the cool rain that only reached the Jolly. Jack looked gobsmacked, staring at Maleficent as she looped lazily around before gaining altitude. "Mister Sparrow," Regina put on her Evil Queen voice like it was an old sweater, imposing as ever, "you may be more comfortable below decks. Where can we deliver you?" 

"Tortuga," Jack replied immediately, and Regina exchanged a glance with Henry at the knee-jerk reaction of the answer. "And if your captain is with a flying ship, that may be the best place for you to wait for him." 

"Not happening." Henry replied immediately, looking up at the singular rain cloud above their heads and clearing his throat, "The rain subsided, the cool remaining as the travelers journeyed for the Saviour's true love." 

The rain stopped with Henry's voice, and Regina shook her head, shirking her damp jacket and shaking out her hair. "Henry, you and I need to have a talk about this." 

Henry nodded once, ducking back towards the cabins to go back to his other mother and his sister. Sparrow stared after him, looking up at the cleared sky and back down to the entrance to the lower decks, "Magic." 

"Everyone aboard this vessel has it," Anna shrugged, coming up with a huge water bottle and Elsa weaving a chill in the air around them, "well, except Meg and me...and you..." 

"Is Lily with Emma and Meg?" Anna nodded to Regina's question, headed towards the helm as Regina went to go see how her worst enemy turned best friend was doing. 

"Mister Sparrow, may I suggest going to Anna to help set the course?" Regina ordered imperiously. 

"There should be a captain somewhere in there..." Jack grumbled, but did as he was told, taking in the knots and ropes along the way. 

Regina disappeared below decks, taking a deep breath before pushing into Maleficent and Lily's rooms, formerly Elsa's icebox. "Lily? Emma and Meg are still breathing?" 

Lily looked up from sitting between mother and daughter, nodding once, "Strong and steady." She confirmed, "Henry mentioned that there was a pirate?" Regina gave her an easily-read look before nodding, "He was going to collect a shirt for said pirate, so I don't think I want to know." Lily shrugged, looking at Emma's sleeping features. 

"I wish I didn't." Regina replied sardonically, shaking her head as she moved to Meg's side, reaching carefully to take her pulse. "You know, I never understood what happened between Emma and you. But it's simple, isn't it? You felt like the missing piece of her." 

"I still do." Lily answered quietly, "We were always bound to find each other." 

"Yes, you were. And now she's marrying someone else." Regina murmured softly enough that Lily would be the only one able to hear her. 

Lily's head snapped up, her brown eyes hard, "Regina..." 

"Lily, it's not like it's a problem unless you make it one." Regina murmured, "Maleficent and I, of all people, understand." 

Lily's brows went skyrocketing, "You and my mother?"

"Maleficent taught me how to be happy again, Lily. Before she and your father had their flight, we were close...we weren't lovers, but we did love each other." 

Lily swallowed, looking back down at Emma, "She wouldn't--" 

"You'd be surprised, Lily." Regina murmured kindly, "She's more understanding than we usually end up giving her credit for." 

Lily licked her lips, taking a deep breath as she pushed Emma's hair away from her cheek, looking back up at Regina after a long moment, "How do we help her get Killian back?" 

"I'm not worried about that, to be honest. They find each other better than guided missiles." Regina sighed, sitting forwards so that her arms were against her thighs, hands clasped like she was praying, "No, what I'm worried about is Meg, and, possibly, a ship that the pirate we've acquired mentioned. I think I know which one he's talking about. It's called the Queen Anne's Revenge, and it was sunken many years ago...by me." 

"This sounds like something Emma should be awake for." Lily murmured. 

"Oh, no. It's not that much of a story. I sank it because the captain failed me." Regina muttered, meeting Lily's eye at last, "Blackbeard." 

"What did the pirate say about it to make you worry?" 

"He said that this weirdness might bring it back." Regina told her hollowly. "I sank that ship and Blackbeard tried to tear Emma and Killian apart to get his hands on this one--the one just like it." 

"So?" 

"There's a lot about a ship like this that can cause a lot to go wrong. We banished Blackbeard out of the Forest and its neighboring kingdoms, but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't swoop on us in a heartbeat if given the chance." 

"I was in Storybrooke for this, so what the hell happened with Blackbeard?" 

"The last time Emma was kidnapped, we managed to keep up with the pirate's chase long enough to see him get himself caught in the trap Blackbeard had set for him. Blackbeard had decided that Emma would be best killed in front of the idiot, but the two imbeciles that Blackbeard had tasked with keeping Emma hostage had fallen prey to a bad idea--"

"They tried to drink Emma under the table, didn't they?" Lily laughed softly, shaking her head. 

"Of course they did." Regina replied, rolling her eyes. 

Lily sniggered, "Snow is still the only one who can out-drink her, isn't she?" 

Regina shrugged with her brows, shifting back. "Killian was pretty close last time. I think he managed to out-drink Snow, even, but I was a little caught up at the time." Lily raised a brow, and Regina's mouth twitched upwards, "Robin might have been doing shots with your mother over who I loved more." 

"That seems like something they would only do when already very drunk." 

"It was." Regina scoffed, "And it was a very bad idea." 

"That seems like an understatement." 

Emma groaned, her eyes fluttering open, limbs jerking on the bed as though she were ready to spring up to fight. Lily hushed her, Regina moving into her line of sight with large, calm eyes, "It's alright, Emma." She murmured. "You and Megara are both safe and sound." 

Emma sucked in a breath, her gaze going from Regina to Lily before finally finding Meg. She went lax against the bed, licking her lips with a dry tongue as she reached for her daughter's hand. Regina poured a glass of cool, clear water as Lily maneuvered Emma into a sitting position, "Small sips, Emma, just go slowly." Lily whispered, pulling Emma's hair off of her shoulders as Regina carefully tilted the cup against Emma's lips. 

Emma sat back with a sigh, reaching for Lily's wrist and looking up at her with dark eyes, "We're off course." 

"What? How do you know?" Regina demanded. 

"I can feel it. Killian's too far away..." Emma groaned. Lily laid her hand against Emma's forehead, and Emma went lax. 

"What do you mean he's too far away?" 

"I can't feel him." Emma sounded close to tears, and Lily looked up at Regina, horror clear in her eyes. "I...I can always feel him with me." 

In her sleep, Meg reached for her mother, Regina pulling Lily out from between them so that Meg could curl up beside her. Emma breathed a little easier, and Lily realized that it was only Emma's love for her children that kept her on her feet half the time. Remembering the darkness that Emma had been surrounded by when she'd come to find Lily years ago, she remembered that it had been there because Cruella had had a gun to Henry's head. Emma had broken curses larger than life for her kids, and she'd toppled kingdoms for them. She loved her family enough to move mountains, whether her family was blood or bond. 

"She and Killian are too damn co-dependent." Regina sighed. 

"It's still light out, but my mother and I can shift and track him down come sunset." Lily muttered, "We need to make this fast." 

"It's not going to be made fast," Maleficent chimed in, "and some time apart is going to do them good. I flew out as far as I could without losing sight of the ship, and they've outpaced us. By a lot." 

"Time apart isn't necessarily a good thing," Regina murmured, "Killian and Emma get through hell for each other, they've sacrificed themselves for each other, and that creates a bond that I can't even tell you the power of. Now, they're sickening in the extreme, but that doesn't mean that it's not down to the strength of their love that Emma can feel him when he's close. Emma beat down the darkness that not even Merlin could destroy for Killian and Henry, and it's a problem, but it's real." 

"How do we solve it? We can't have her getting weepy when we need to give them a little headway." Maleficent grumbled. 

"She won't. She's stronger than anyone but Killian gives her credit for." Regina snapped. 

Lily looked at Meg curling around her mother and couldn't help the ache in her heart, "I think he forgets, sometimes, that she can't be that strong all the time." 

~

Killian was barely able to breathe for the pain in his chest, the ache of something missing. In Storybrooke, he had learned about what other men had gone through in losing their limbs; the phantom pains he had thought were simply the madness of Neverland clawing into his mind, making him to imagine sensations in a hand and in a heart that were no longer really there. His grief had had him calling for Milah, just as his mind had had a stinging in fingers no longer attached to his body. 

This was a different ache, though; it went so much deeper than an itch that could never be scratched. He needed Emma. He needed to breathe in the smell of her hair and wrap his arms around her. 

After his hand had been taken from him, Killian had suffered through infection and fever, and the tightness of his skin now felt all too similar to how it had felt to go through the sickness. He wanted never to move unless it was to fall into Emma's arms, but he knew without a doubt that he could not let himself falter, not when his father was waiting to whip him into shape. 

Killian rose before the sun did, and found that most of the crew tasked with the night watch had subsided to their dreams at some point or another. Killian had barely managed sleep over the last few nights, too worried that Emma was in danger; too consumed by the thought that he could ever end up like his damnable father. In his younger years, he would have rousted the lot of them. Hell, even a year ago, he may have done the same damn thing, but he needed this silence; this stillness. 

The sheer cold of their flight had grown deathly for a time, and even with no clouds for the last few days, his lantern was still soggy with the frost or having been frozen solid in the storms that must have ravaged below them if their fare was anything to judge by. Killian hadn't dared to try to move another, and hadn't had the chance to try to properly reheat it in the decks below, where Flint had managed to create enough insulation for the cold not to reach its tendrils to the sleeping crew. Now, though, he knew that Emma was somewhere far enough that he couldn't feel her, in the back of his mind, coming for him. 

"And what do ye think yer doin' hangin' from astern this ship?" Silver's rasp startled out the morning, and Killian was thankful that he had long ago been beaten free of the kind of telling nerves that would have made other men flinch.

"The ship flies with no discernible need for fairy dust: I want to know how." Killian reasoned smoothly, not bothering to look up as the peg-legged man made his way towards where he was half-climbed over the railing. 

"'T would be very easy for some of the more...unsavoury of our crew to simply push you overboard, Mr. Jones." 

"You're not one of those lot, though," Killian led smoothly, not batting a lash at the backhanded threat in the old sailor's eye, "and how would Flint feel to have tracked me down through realms only to have his most trusted man push me from his ship?" 

Silver didn't bat an eye, either, staring into Killian's clear, sky-blue eyes with nearly-milky eyes of his own, "Aye, how would he feel? Free of a son who's chosen to loathe everythin' 'e stands fer?" 

Killian raised a brow, drawing himself to his full height, which was a sight taller than the stooped man, and leaned forwards, taking the scruffed and tattered lapels of the man's jacket, jerking him fully upright and then off of his feet, "Believe you me, Silver, it wouldn't be his freedom from my departure, it would be mine." 

Releasing him without care, Killian watched dispassionately as Silver scrabbled, the fear in his eyes appealing to the Captain Hook still lurking in the back of Killian's mind. 

"You're under the false assumption that I would ever try to usurp your position with the right bastard. I would rather have killed him than have been taken from my wife and my family. Don't for a second think that I would choose this life over the one I have there." 

"That darkness wit'in ya, lad, that's somethin' I bet not even the missus understands." Silver replied, his voice oily. Killian paused from walking back down to the lower deck, turning just enough for Silver to see him in the half-light of the false dawn. 

His smirk was wild, his eyes nearly glowing in the light, the colour of forget-me-nots. In the half-light the curl of his neck to look down on the older pirate was nothing short of menacing, and if Silver didn't know better, there was a flash of his hook at his sleeve still; something that he knew gave those few that he let survive nightmares. He let Captain Hook show in that moment, safe in the knowledge that he was no longer a man that would let this darkness win. This was a game, as Emma would murmur to him, her long hair spilling over his shoulder as well as hers. He was playing a pirate, and she a princess, and so long as they knew they were truly Emma and Killian, it was a game they would never lose, because everyone always seemed to underestimate the fact that in truth, she had her own darkness just as he had found his light. 

In the distance, lightning spidered the sky, and Killian's coat was barely heard, swishing down the stairs to the lower decks as thunder cracked hard enough to quake the sails themselves. 

~

 _Captain_ Jack Sparrow had seen a lot in his time. He'd become a pirate in order to save the souls of one-hundred people who he had chosen to set free, and his crew had just mutinied and left him to die on an island full of rum that it was an honest miracle he had survived drinking, because he had drunk all of it. Never would he have thought that he would be sitting on a ship with seven gloriously beautiful women and a young deckhand who seemed to be son to two of them. 

There was a bottle in front of him that never seemed to get any emptier, no matter how much he drank, and he wondered if he hadn't died and gone to paradise by accident.

"You're off-course, and I can help you." 

"Oh, and how the hell would you do that?" Lily asked, arms crossed over her chest. 

Jack smirked, and Regina rolled her eyes hard enough to knock something loose. "Henry, I think I'm going to maim the pirate." Regina muttered, arching a brow.

"Mom, no." Henry groaned. "Dorothy would be so disappointed in you." 

Lily snorted in amusement, shaking her head at Regina and her love for her kids. "I don't have a Dorothy to disappoint, so spill the beans, pirate." She murmured, letting her eyes bleed dragon-green. 

Jack flinched slightly, hissing in a breath, "Well, if this merry band of wanderers can add to itself one more, I will help you. But I've worked hard to steal this, and I won't give it over." 

"Let's make some things clear," Emma piped up, her gaze unyielding, "this ship will not tolerate you bandying about pretending to be captain, so you will not even for a second think of yourself as such. We may be a ship full of women, but more than half of us are happily with our true loves, so if you try anything, don't be surprised if you _do_ get maimed. And if my children learn one more horrible sea chanty, I will turn you into a chicken." 

Maleficent's perfect brows went up, a smile playing at the corners of her full mouth as she nodded to Emma in respect. 

"Now how is that you can help us, pirate?" Regina asked, the cold steel of her voice reminiscent of her Evil days. 

"I have in my possession a compass," Jack informed them, "whichever of you lovely ladies wants to find him most needs to simply take the compass and follow where it points." 

"Where it points had better not simply be North." Regina told him snidely, nodding to Emma, "She's the woman for the job." 

"Ah, but I may mention: you have to want nothing as much as you want to find him, so any attraction you may have--" with a flick of her fingers, Maleficent had Jack's sentence swallowed by an enormous bocking cry, chicken feathers bursting from his mouth. 

"We have to put up with Killian flirting with her, I do not have the patience to listen to it from someone with even less class and worse smell." Maleficent muttered. 

Emma was trying very hard not to turn pink, "Mr. Sparrow, I don't think my wants will be a problem." 

_Emma was sitting in the tower that Mary Margaret and David had set aside for them in the castle, staring at the stranger reflected back to her in the mirror._

_Her mother had sent maids to put her hair up into this disastrously complicated crown of curls, a tiara seated on top of it, and she'd been stuffed into a dress that felt like a cage that moved with her._

_She was so busy staring at her reflection, wondering how the hell she'd managed to end up here, when her very own pirate slipped in, his bright blue eyes taking in the look on her face and the sleeping child curled in the exact middle of their bed. Killian moved to Penny where she slept with one thumb firmly in her mouth, carefully lifting her so that he could lay her under the blankets, her own little princess dress still on, her signature pigtails still in._

_He kissed her forehead gently, feeling Emma's eyes finally torn away from the mirror and ignoring it for now. Removing his coat, Killian slid behind the changing screen in order to dress in the pajamas that he wore whenever one of their children had decided to sleep with them. While he loved to sleep without a stitch, it was a compromise he was more than willing to abide by. Padding over the cold stone floor in his bare feet, Killian emerged to find Emma lost in her thoughts again; the look in her eye and the set to her mouth driving up a wellspring of worry. He came to stand behind her, putting his one hand against the back of the chair as he bent to press a kiss to the mess someone had decided to style her hair into. He didn't both to disengage the brace holding his hook in place just then, though the sharp appendage would only make his undertaking more difficult._

_"You know, for as infuriatingly beautiful as you look, this seems more complicated than need be." He murmured, gently running his calloused hand from her shoulder up her neck and into her hair. He found the first pin, gently slipping it free as he brushed the curl down with his hook, careful not to actually cut the hair as he laid it down her shoulder. "If I didn't make it clear earlier, you are radiant."_

_Slowly and deliberately, Killian worked each tendril of hair free, leaving the tiara in place as he gently laid Emma's long mane of hair down her back. He continued to murmur how incredibly beautiful she was, and how lucky he felt to have her, even as he reached for the brush lying on the vanity. The mother-of-pearl handle and soft collection of bristles was another stark shock of the reality of the situation; hers being that she was supposed to be a princess, and Killian's being that he was madly and utterly in love with a princess whom he'd managed to coax into loving him back. Drawing the brush slowly and gently through her hair, Killian began to tell her about the things he'd caught on to with their wild brood. It wasn't until he was wrapping up a story about Merida teaching Rafi, Jenna, Salima, and Dhandi the even more wild ways of her triplet brothers that Emma started laughing, her eyes full as she watched him quietly take care of her, as she'd seen him do with their kids countless times._

_Still wearing her tiara, Emma caught Killian's hand, leaning her cheek into his palm before she turned to him fully, looking up at him through her lashes. "Do you ever regret...that it's me?"_

_The shock was more than evident in his expression, but he knew what she meant immediately. Dropping to one knee before her, Killian wrapped both of her hands in his, his gaze unrelenting, "Emma, I have never faltered--"_

_"No," Emma cut in, one hand sliding free to rub restlessly at his cheek, "that's not what I mean, Killian...I--Don't you ever wish...that it wasn't me you fell in love with? That you had someone easier?" Killian knocked the low chair out from under her in one hard movement, catching her against his chest as she let out a squeal of surprise, her hand clinging to his shoulders. He took the moment to breathe her in deeply, closing his eyes as his mind raced._

_"Emma, in any world's love stories, when was it ever easy for true love?" Killian asked her earnestly, his voice rough, "I have never wished for another, Swan. You are what I need, and what I never knew I wanted. You may not feel like a princess, and this world is not yours--but I think you might forget, it's not mine, either. We have a life that I would not trade for anything, because you're a part of it. On paper, I am a pirate marrying a princess," he laughed in whispers, his face still tucked against her neck, her scent around him like a blanket, "but what isn't written is that I was an orphan raised by his brother on the sea with just enough sense that when a beautiful, strong, clever woman fell into my life, I never questioned for a moment how it would change. I let it come. And now I am a father to children who are just as beautiful and strong and clever as she is. I am a hero because you needed me to be. And I will never for a moment wish that my life had turned out differently, Swan." He caught his hand in her hair, disengaging just enough to look her in the eye, his thumb tracing along her cheek as he did. "Not for a moment."_

_Emma kissed him then, tears at the corners of her eyes. Killian groaned as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting without breaking the kiss. Emma hummed into the kiss, reaching up blindly to take the tiara from her hair and set it blindly down, wrapping both her arms around his shoulders._

_Killian moved slowly, leading them behind the changing screen and letting Emma take her own weight once more, reaching up gently to untangle her arms from around him as he slowly pressed his lips to hers, kiss after kiss until he could convince himself to stop for the moment. His hand was well-trained, finding the laces and fastenings and undoing them with ease that left her raising a brow at him in challenge. "It's not my world, but the clothes aren't so very different," he murmured, and she laughed softly, shaking her head at him. The dress came free finally, her long hair more than covering her breasts as she stood before him. His palm was like fire against her skin, brushing at the fine definition of her ribs beneath her pale skin, "Penny is in our bed, my darling, or I would love to remind you that yours are the only arms I'll ever want around me again. Get in your nightclothes, I ought to find something for her."_

_Emma's features almost flashed to a pout, but she turned, reaching into her small collection of things to pull out the simple white undershirt she'd crossed over wearing. "This should be okay." She whispered, "She's small enough it'll be like a nightdress."_

_Colour rose in her cheeks, and Killian gave her a rakish grin, leaning in to kiss her again. Penny was the smallest of their children that far, and it was taking some getting used to. "It runs counter to all I fight for in this world, but get dressed." She snorted, rolling her eyes at him and making a shooing motion._

_Killian took off the hook and his brace while she changed, and they tackled the sleeping Penny's dress together, the little one curled comfortably between them as Emma reached for Killian's hand in the half-light they would keep in deference to Penny's fear of the dark. Killian's brilliant eyes closed, and Emma couldn't help but study his features._

_'I love you.' She mouthed, not even a whisper of breath behind it._

_Killian smiled in his sleep, breathing out the reply to something he couldn't have possibly heard, "Love you, too. Sleep."_


	3. Light as a Feather

As a pirate, Killian had never had much regard for the ways of the island of Tortuga. It was out of his way, and though easily classified as a pirate's paradise, he loathed the dirt, noise, and disgust inherent in an island inhabited by either pirates or prostitutes of pirates. He preferred the quiet coastal towns, where he could have peace if he so wanted it. When they made port in Tortuga, they were hailed as royalty of pirates, but that didn't heighten Killian's esteem of the place in any way at all. 

He wasn't sure if Emma had been able to keep up, and he was even more unsure if she would want to chase him in a place like this. Then again, when she had strode towards him in that tavern, dressed as a barwench and utterly perfect, he'd thought, watching as much as he could of the exchange, that she wouldn't look at him after interacting with who he had been before she'd fallen into his life. Instead, she'd finally started really letting him in. She seen who he was and how much he'd changed, and had chosen him anyway. 

"You seem distracted." A rough voice murmured softly, the pirate at his elbow stooped and unassuming. "Dangerous in this crowd." 

It was not often at all that Killian wished he had his hook still, but a weapon more than his mind had served him all too well over the years. "We haven't been introduced, mate. I'm Killian Jones--Captain Hook." 

The pirate grunted, "I know who you are. Your hook is gone, Captain, it won't serve you well to be distracted in a band of pirates such as these." 

"Good form would dictate that you give your name." Killian replied evenly, "Or do you not have one?" 

"Bill Turner is my name." The pirate grunted his reply, "And I must ask something of you, Captain Jones." From a hidden pocket, he pulled out a small package, "I am a crewmember aboard the Flying Dutchman." Killian couldn't help but flinch, the grip of this stopped man wrapping around his wrist as though made of iron, "My son...My son, William...he's...he's a good boy. I meant to send this to him before they killed me. Now, I need you to get it to him for me. Please. You're a good man, and I need your help to make sure my son becomes a good man, too." 

Killian felt his throat go tight, his heart squeezing in sympathy. "I can do this for you--but I need something from you as well." He pulled closer to Turner, his voice dropping so low it was hard for Turner to hear him, never mind anyone else. "My ship, the Jolly Roger sails these waters. If they make port before you leave, get a message to Emma Swan. Tell her that..." Killian's throat closed over the words, "tell her that the dangers of this adventure aren't worth it. Tell her to sail for home, no matter what the Jolly says." 

Killian swallowed, not meeting Turner's eye as the pirate looked at him with a solemnity that spoke of knowing the real message given. 

"Captain Hook has a talent for surviving, but if pushed, Killian Jones won't survive with him." 

"You would lose your family--" Turner began. 

"No; I would save them from the darkness I carry." Killian snapped, his forget-me-not eyes flashing Hook for a moment. "My family does not deserve to have to face the man that these pirates would have me become, and if I become the true Hook, I would have myself left for dead before inflicting that pain upon the ones I love." Turner nodded once, his features grim. "I may be a good man, but I know my darkness well enough to know that I may not be able to remain a good man." 

If Killian could have trusted the man as far as he could throw him, he might have felt a pang of guilt at the blatant lie of it. But he needed to let Emma know he was alive: he was in his own fog of desperate worry, he knew that after everything she had been through, she was likely not to be much better off. She would take this message as the fallacy it was: she would know that he was still yet alive, if not safe, and that he would keep his pledge to do anything for her and their family. His message was as close to the "I love you" he needed as he dared to get, and he had to have hope that she would prove him right once again and know him as well as he did her. 

"I will give the message, if I'm able." 

"As shall I." Killian assured, inclining his head as he slipped the medallion into his pocket. "Be safe, Master Turner." 

"And you, Captain." The old man turned and limped on, and Killian moved so swiftly and smoothly once his back was turned that it wasn't until the body hit the wood that anyone drew notice. 

It appeared that Silver underestimated Killian still: the pirate thrown from his hiding spot close to the conversing messengers and landing against the dock on a heap under Killian's wrath as he loomed over the cowering codfish. Killian let the flash of his eyes turn to the mythical forget-me-not blue, his slighter, stronger body braced forwards menacingly over the pirate sprawled before him. Silver looked up at Killian with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open stupidly, his own hook coming up as thought he was actually going to try to fight. "Kill him, and you won't see your family again." Flint's voice boomed out over the docks, cutting through the revelry of Tortuga. Killian didn't budge an inch, his eyes still shining with all the rage and power of Captain Hook. "'e's more loyal 'an you are." 

"Poor form to keep a spy in the crew, Flint. Can you not trust yourself to best them without this little limpet first warning you that trouble brews?" Killian's voice was smooth and sharp, the kind that stopped his darling daughters in their tracks and cut through Henry trying to convince him that one of his mothers had said he could do something they both knew he oughtn't. The crew still lingering near the docks looked from one another, and Killian knew the seeds of doubt had been sewn more easily than if the earth for them hadn't already been readied. "A captain who is worth his salt knows that he does not deserve to be captain if a mutiny can so easily overthrow him." 

Killian was a hell of a captain, and he'd managed to either best or tame even the most vicious of his crew. The stories were there; he knew they were, because the look in Silver's eyes was turning steadily more and more into real terror. 

"Have some honour, even if you have to steal it: keep your spy from my affairs, or his ears will decorate your desk." Killian hissed, his hands no where near his scabbard, and yet it was enough that Flint seemed to draw just the tiniest bit smaller. If Killian was right, Flint knew the stories of Captain Hook just as well as Silver did, and knew that for all his age, he had in his sights a man who would not back down from the fight. 

"Captain, the whelp broke his word! He hasn't come alone!" Silver bellowed out, and Killian's hand did finally go to his sword. 

"You force him to leave his wife at the altar, and you expect she will not follow?" Turner asked, voice confused and disgusted, "She's the Saviour, and you expected her not to save him?" 

"Then let's make something to save him from!" Flint roared, and a cheer among the pirates raised up, even as Killian stood his ground, unimpressed. 

Silver sneered, and Killian resisted the urge to roll his eyes, hearing a familiar churning in the water behind him. Ursula and he had long-since set apart their pasts, and Emma and he had helped her to protect her people on more than one occasion. She hated Tortuga almost as much as he did, so that she was there likely meant she'd seen the Jolly in the waters, and had used her powers to find him here. "Imagine my surprise, pirate, that you weren't captaining your beloved ship." Ursula murmured as she stepped daintily onto land, her tentacles disappearing rapidly as the ocean beneath her cooled. "The princess is a good captain, I'll give you that." 

Killian smiled, his eyes crinkling, "You haven't spoken to her?" 

"You're my emissary, pirate. Your wife and I--" Ursula's eyes flashed down to his left hand, her brow ticking upwards at the lack of ring where he would've thought she'd been more surprised to find his hand returned. "Your wife and I came to an understanding that it's better for all involved with the buffer you provide." 

"I am, as always, flattered, Ursula." Killian told her, voice carrying easily, the pirates flinching at the name. 

"If anyone was to threaten you, Killian, I would no longer hold land in such regard. The protection you bartered for would be gone." Ursula and he had made no pact about her staying away from interference of the earth, but the pirates never needed to know that, "This island, I think, would be the first to go." 

She was the Queen of the oceans. All of them. If she turned against a sailor, there was no hope for them--even in a boat that floated high above the waves. "That might be the best plan you've ever had, my lady." Killian told her evenly, bowing slightly with a smile pulling painfully to spread over his features. 

"I'm saving you, Killian, so I'd suggest you take me for a drink." Ursula growled, her dark eyes flashing as the pirates bent to her will, as she always knew they would. 

"Your wish, my lady," Killian bowed for real this time, leading her to a tavern that was relatively quiet once the presence of the sorceress of the ocean was given proper reverence, "Thank you, Ursula."

"You could have taken them, but I assume that you have a good reason not to have actually married the girl and left into the sunset." 

"Flint has another son, and I need to know that my brother is safe, if not happy."

"You've been taking in children--strays. You and Emma. More than that boy, Mowgli." 

"Our family is large." Killian allowed, nodding once as a cowed barmaid set two pints before them, "I would have extended an invitation for the wedding, but we still haven't made it down the damn aisle yet." 

"And why is that, pirate?" Ursula questioned, no malice in her tone, "You take what you want. Give nothing back." 

"I want to give Emma everything in any of the worlds: what I want doesn't come into the equation." 

"I barely know her," Ursula murmured dismissively, "but I do know that she does not want pomp and circumstance for a union, pirate. She tends to run from it." 

Killian felt a smile spread across his cheeks, honest as he toyed with his cuff, "Her family is another story." 

Ursula cocked a brow, but nodded sagely, her eyes flashing, "Would you like for a marriage, or a wedding, pirate?"

"I want a bloody marriage, but it's not about what I want!" Killian insisted. 

"Yes, it is, you utter fool. Take what you want, pirate." Ursula growled, her dark eyes wide and unquestioning that he would do what she told him to--a true queen. 

"I want Emma to be safe at home, our children and their wild mess pulling us out of bed at an ungodly hour, and not a hint of danger on the bloody horizon!" 

The wild need in Killian's eyes made them shine with enough power that Ursula thought she needn't have scared away those pirates at all. "At this point, pirate, even I wish that for you." She told him, voice a deep, smiling thing that sent a grin over his face immediately. "The Jolly is two days behind, but she's headed here." Ursula murmured, her gaze piercing, "Looks like she got into a fight, too. I would guess with an ice monster of some kind." 

Killian froze, his eyes wide, and Ursula shook her head, leaning forwards to put her hand on his wrist, keeping his gaze with her own. 

"Why are you here? Why are they chasing you?" Ursula finally asked. 

"Because Flint has another son...and I have to find him." Ursula's lips pursed, the goddess of the seas shifting restlessly in her seat, "He stormed my latest attempt to wed Emma, and told me that I was the only one he would allow to know where his treasure is being kept." Ursula's gaze turned hard, and Killian looked at her for a moment, "You don't even know where the treasure is kept, do you?"

"Flint took something from a friend of mine, and I've been looking for his trove ever since." Ursula told him darkly, taking a drag of her drink, "If you can retrieve it for me, I'll make it worth your time." 

Killian shook his head, "I'll do all I can. Just make sure Emma and the Jolly get through this as best you can." 

"You really are a hero now, aren't you?" 

Killian did not see distrust or unkindness in her eyes, and he let it wash over him, the reflexive need to defend--when, really, she had reason better than any not to trust him in the least. "I'm trying to be."

She nodded once, "It's not the best look on you, but you'll grow into it." With that, she winked at him, sliding from the table and walking idly out of the bar with a wave at the barmaid who'd served them. Killian sighed, shaking his head as he downed the last of his draft and left after her; looking not to follow her so much as to stare out over the sea as though he could see Emma there.

"You won't have her protection forever." The gruff, deep voice of Flint made Killian stop in his tracks, his temper stretched far too thin to react. 

"I don't need her protection, Flint. Not really. She would be the first to tell you that." Killian told him, though his mind immediately caught the lie: Emma would tell Flint exactly how much protection Killian needed before Ursula ever could. "You don't seem to realize that I far surpassed the pirate you could even dream of being; and I'm never going to let you tear me down." 

Flint loomed closer, but Killian had been stared down by Queens and witches; has dealt with two teenaged daughters in the Land Without Magic, and could not be intimidated even if he wanted to be. 

"You'd best pray that she doesn't find us before you give me what I want, Flint. I may be the legendary Captain Hook--but my wrath is nothing compared to hers." With a grin that she would have delighted in, Killian turned to the horizon, his eyes finding the direction he knew she traveled, leaving his father to stew in the thought that there was a time limit now. 

~

Storybrooke was rarely quiet for very long, even with the Saviour gone. 

Mary Margaret waded into the silence that rarely hung over the Swan-Jones residence, smiling to herself at the neatly ordered supplies. For as chaotic as their lives were, Killian had kept his naval precision, and Emma had clung to her pragmatism. They kept everything in order, and their children blossomed with it. Esme, wild and darling Esme, was not the type for such order, but she would keep it going with the last breath in her body, because her siblings needed that structure. 

Mowgli's art supplies were sitting in the little alcove at the front window--the one overlooking the sea. He had a gift for light and colour, his form like a Monet, and Mary Margaret was always in awe of the ways Killian and Emma encouraged him with this pursuit. Dhandi had spread out three pages' worth of notes on what, to Mary Margaret, seemed to be very advanced physics over her designated area; Killian often spent long hours tracking the movement of stars and comparing them to the notes of people from ages before, Dhandi focused on the way the light of those stars moved over the years. Mary Margaret often wished Killian could have spent his too-long life staring at these stars, just so that he could speak of it first-hand. Esme had long ago abandoned her own workspace to Penny, moving her bright cloths and shining beads upstairs to a corner of her and Meg's shared bedroom. Penny had had a recent obsession with cooking, and her space was covered in things that she wanted to make with either Killian or Emma--though Mary Margaret knew that Emma was next to hopeless in the kitchen. Henry's addition was the set of bookshelves towering over two walls of the room, full of the adventures of his siblings and his parents, his friends, his town of misfit characters of a story book. Salima and Emma had started to paint in patterns over the wood of the shelves that Mary Margaret knew Killian had enlisted Marco to help him build with his own hands. Jenna, Salima's elder sister, had a small menagerie that Mary Margaret herself had helped the little girl cultivate. David and Killian had built a bird cage large enough for the three of them to fit into, the Prince and the pirate arguing idly the whole way through the project, though no blood was spilled, which Mary Margaret put down solely to Emma's careful edge of magic in the air, keeping the sharp edges of both their tongues and the wire from hitting anywhere soft. Salima herself seemed to be working more and more with Marco and Pinnochio, and Mary Margaret loved the mobile her granddaughter had helped to fashion for her her much younger aunt. Rafi seemed content to keep to himself in the wild rumpus, sitting back with a smile on his cheeks while he watched his family barter and bribe earch other for space, for time, for some peace and quiet while they worked. 

One day, Mary Margaret prayed, she would have the same affinity for the lost little ones in her daughter's life as Emma did. Until then, she snuck into the house before dawn had even hinted at the horizon, setting down bags of groceries on the counter so as not to wake David asleep on the couch from reading Penny and Rafi a bedtime story. 

Granny would have come for this, Mary Margaret knew, but she wanted to do this for her daughter's family. So she had left Neal and her baby daughter in Granny's capable hands, sneaking into the night while the older woman had puttered around Mary Margaret's own kitchen. 

David woke before Mary Margaret had even gotten back from nipping into the wild garden Emma had built out of her back yard, a basket full of eggs on her arm and a handful of fresh dill she couldn't help but taking a deep breath of. David smiled at his wife, bending to kiss her as she came in. "Granny have the little ones?" 

"Of course." Mary Margaret chirped, "I was going to make them breakfast and get their lunches ready." 

David smirked, walking over to the gigantic fridge and pulling open the door to reveal seven packed lunches. "Lunches were done last night by Rafi, Penny, and Esme. Breakfast sounds amazing." David hummed. 

"They really are Killian's kids, huh?" 

David chuckled, "If I hadn't broken my ankle last year, I wouldn't have thought it was him, but Emma does not think that far ahead when it comes to food." 

Mary Margaret laughed in whispers, remembering all too well having to leave David in Killian and Emma's care because David couldn't manage the walk-up to their loft. Mary Margaret had essentially been told not to worry about anything, because Killian and Emma would cover it. Emma had set David up in Killian's office on the ground floor, and though he'd sniped about it, Killian had been diligent to the point of overprotective in making sure David rested, ate, and exercised. He'd claimed for months that it was to get back his office, to get back to the maps he was making of Storybrooke and the coast he took his children out to scout every weekend on the Jolly; but Mary Margaret knew Killian, down to his bones, and she knew that it wasn't for anything but the friendship that had come up between David and Killian. Killian didn't have many, and it pained her to know that, because he was a damned good man, but even though neither would admit it, they both cared for each other. 

"We could have used some of Emma's no-nonsense last night." David admitted, ducking his head, "Penny and Rafi got into it about whether they should have stayed in Agrabah or not. Esme forced them to work together on lunch to get them to actually interact after it was all done. I think Jenna misses Rajah and Jasmine, and Penny's picked up on it." 

"Aladdin and Jasmine asked Emma and Killian to take Jenna, Salima, and Rafi in, though--" 

David shrugged, "Jenna's best friend was a tiger, Mary Margaret, Storybrooke in comparison can seem rather...boring. And Jasmine and Aladdin had to send the kids with Emma and Killian, it wasn't because they didn't want to take care of them. They just couldn't." 

The war that had torn Agrabah apart just after Killian and Emma had arrived back from their trip there had been brutal and messy. Aladdin was a great ruler, but to many he was changing too much. Giving to the poor, taking a little more from the rich. It caused unrest that Jasmine had been sly enough to see coming, and had been quick enough to send for help for. Mary Margaret remembered the day Emma and Killian had returned from their sojourn out as emissaries of the Enchanted Forest, each carrying a small child with a third holding each of their hands between them, all of them looking windswept and worse for wear because of the sandstorm that had cut off Mary Margaret from sending reinforcements for Aladdin's cause. The war had ended just before they'd come back to Storybrooke, and when Jasmine and Aladdin came to visit, tired and world-worn and wearier than they could put words to, Jenna and her siblings had chosen to stay with Emma, when Emma had realized that no one had given the children a choice. They'd parted on good terms, and Mary Margaret often heard Jenna talk about seeing Jasmine and Rajah in a mirror Emma had enchanted for her. 

"Penny feels left behind still," Mary Margaret sighed, finding the neatly stacked pans in their proper pantry, taking out a giant pie dish, "maybe Killian and Emma aren't the right family for her. She needs more stability." 

David frowned, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the kitchen island. "What would you suggest we do?" 

"I don't know." Mary Margaret sighed, "Things are never calm...never safe." Mary Margaret began wringing her hands, but David caught her fingers in his, meeting her eye, "I just wish that Emma could get married and be happy without a threat hanging over our heads." David pulled his wife into his arms, laying his cheek on her hair as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Do you ever imagine what it would have been like to never have had to let Emma go?" 

"She would never have met Hook, Snow." David told her, "We wouldn't have Henry, or any of these wonderful kids. She might have been safer, but, Snow, she would not have been happier." 

Mary Margaret nodded into his shoulder, holding him tighter as the sun rose outside, the kids stirring upstairs. 

~

Emma stretched out between Henry and Meg, her face buried in her daughter's hair while her fingers scratched idly through her son's. They were both too old for this at this point, but neither were about to bring it up now. Elsa leaned on the end of the bed, watching the family with sad eyes. Elsa knew exactly how much Emma had gone through, and would give just about anything to save Emma from having to withstand any more. Anna knocked softly at the door, and Elsa was the only one to react, turning to her sister and leaving her breaking heart with her best friend. "Is she okay? There must be something really really strong between her and Killian. Kristoff and I don't even get like this. Do we need to turn back? She's not well, and we can't help her--" 

"Anna," Maleficent interrupted smoothly, "you are traveling with two dragons, an ex-Evil Queen, your ice-wielding sister, and the Author himself. Emma won't get better if we turn back. I don't know what's causing a reaction this powerful, but we have to keep going." 

"What can we do?" Elsa asked, voice quiet, "Emma's always been the strongest..." 

"We bear the burden and we tear this measly world apart to find that damned pirate." Maleficent answered easily, fixing her hair, "And in the meantime, we gather around her, we make her stronger, and we keep her going." 

Regina slipped down the stairs from the main deck, her eyes wide and harried, "I figured it out!" She burst, running past them into the captain's quarters, careless of stirring the three on the bed. "Henry, move please." Her son moved immediately, and Regina sat where he had been laying, her hand snaking around to press low on Emma's stomach. "Quiet, everyone!" Regina snapped, focusing her magic in a way entirely new to her, trying to sense the life in the room. "She's pregnant." Regina half-laughed as the sounds of two heartbeats were brought louder through her magic. Emma finally stirred, turning her head from her daughter's hair, "Miss Swan, you are pregnant." Regina told her, tears in her eyes. "Congratulations." 

"How is that making her so...?" Anna's words finally failed her, a flailing gesture doing the rest. 

"This baby is the product of True Love the second generation over." Regina told them, "Emma, your baby is going to be the most powerful force in any realm. And your sadness is being reflected back to you...through the baby." 

Emma was perfectly still, her features pale and blank, her eyes far away. Henry moved purposefully into her line of sight, his features so perfectly calm it was like watching a battered ship find a port in the storm when she looked at him, "You're not alone, Mom." 

A tear ran down Emma's cheek, and Regina realized that telling her was perhaps not the best course of action. Not now. "Emma, you are most certainly not alone, and nor will you ever have to do this alone." 

"You're going to get sick of us, we're going to be here so much." Meg told her sardonically, taking her shaking hand. Elsa pushed back past her sister, her smile bright and her eyes shining. 

"No more rum for you." Maleficent murmured. Emma froze, her eyes flying wide and her own hand falling over her stomach, her features crumpling. 

"Emma, this kid is going to be fine." Regina soothed as Elsa wrapped Emma in a hug that could strangle. "Killian may not be so fine when your father finds out, but we will jump off that bridge when we get to it." 

Emma burst into laughter, tears falling down her cheek as she finally hugged Elsa back, weaving her arms around Meg, too, when the girl joined in. Regina grinned, waiting to take a hug of her own once the first was finished. "I suppose I can't be worried Killian won't want to be dad, huh?" Emma hummed, messing Meg's hair idly. 

"What can we do to make sure that mom doesn't get lost?" Henry asked Regina, his unerring faith in his other mother making Emma feel so much better. 

"We overwhelm the sadness." Regina shrugged, "And we find Killian as soon as we damn well can." 

Meg nodded, taking her mother's hands and smiling as Emma sniffed, letting Henry pet back her curtain of hair. "Come on, Mom, you need to sleep." Henry told her, kissing her forehead. Meg nodded, pulling Emma back down, "You two still have the night shift, after all." 

"I'm not sure that I can sleep." Emma admitted, curling an arm around her stomach. She looked up at Regina, her eyes hard, "I need you to promise me something. All of you." Immediately, everyone stilled, "If something happens to me...if something...no one tells Killian. No one can tell him if something happens to me." Emma demanded, her eyes like steel, "He'll go mad as it is that I'm chasing him while pregnant. If something happens, and I lose the baby...I can't lose him, too." 

"You wouldn't--" Anna started, but Elsa held up a hand. 

"We promise." Elsa told her, voice with the force of gravity behind it. 

Maleficent nodded, a look of kindness in her eyes that didn't always fit. Regina nodded as well, taking Emma's hand along with Meg's. Meg looked as though she were ready to fight, and Henry was almost there, too, but Emma simply looked at them, and they nodded their assent. "I'm going to do everything in my power to protect that child." Regina told her, and Maleficent nodded. 

"You didn't do so badly on the first one, though that may be down to Regina's influence." Maleficent hummed, and Henry stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Yeah, well, I...I don't know how to take care of a baby. I'm going to need all the help I can get." 

"You also don't know how to be pregnant and a Saviour. We'll figure it out, Miss Swan." Regina assured her gently.

"If this is the magical version of morning sickness, I may actually regret having my true love." Emma muttered, shaking her head, "I think I need to get up right now." Meg shifted, helping her mother up slowly, as if she was delicate as a flower, and Regina bit down on her smile, knowing that Meg, of all Emma's children, was the one who hated being treated delicately the most. 

Emma and Meg took most of the crowd with them, but Henry caught Regina's arm, "Mom, what if Killian gets hurt? When...when he died, in the other Author's story...she was nearly broken, and that was before they even...became true love. If he gets hurt, and her sadness is reflected back through the baby..." Henry trailed off, and Regina reached out, pulling him into her side, missing the days when he was shorter than she was. 

"I need your help. Emma can't fight being sad. But she can get some help being happy. Help her, Henry. Help all of us get her to happiness." Regina implored, and Henry smiled, hugging her tight. "You're the best man for the job." 

"No, the best man for the job is Killian. I'm just a very, very close second." 

Regina raised both her brows, pursing her lips, "If you ever said that in front of Emma, I think she'd actually break up with Killian for making you feel that way, Henry. You're still her most important person. All of her kids are: but you most of all." 

Henry nodded, "I know, Mom. I just...Killian makes it easier. I have all this power, right at my fingertips, but I know that if I use it, it will only backfire. Killian takes care of mom, and Robin takes care of you, but right now...I'm worried that Killian's not going to make it out of this cleanly. What if we don't make it out of this cleanly--What if I can't stop myself from using my power to protect us?" 

"Henry," Regina sighed, taking her son's hands in hers, her dark eyes burning into his, "Killian and Emma will move mountains for each other. They will be fine. You will be fine, too. I believe in you, Henry. I know...that you don't like to talk about the Author's power. I understand why not, I don't exactly like discussing being Evil. But, Henry, you can't bear this alone." Regina pulled him in. "You're just as strong as both your mothers, you know that?" 

"And just as stubborn, too." Henry told her, grinning cheekily. "For the longest time, I wanted to be just like you and mom. I wanted to be powerful. Now, I have power, and if I abuse it..." 

Regina hugged him tighter, "You never have, Henry. I'm not about to start letting you, either. The previous Author...he was a snake. He did not have your heart. You...you're strong enough to write the story as it happens, not as you want it. There's more power than you know in having the self-control not to bring the world to its knees around you." Regina ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as if she could keep it out of his eyes. She was still his mother, above all else, and Henry was thankful for it to his bones. "I did not have that power." 

"But you did, Mom." Henry murmured, "How else would you explain the continued existence of Snow White, Princess Charming, and Emma Swan? You could have beat them...you just didn't."

"That...makes me feel slightly better about the crack team that seemed to foil my every plot." Regina laughed, rolling her eyes as Henry grinned at her. 

"See? Now, let's go make sure that Maleficent doesn't freak mom out even more than she's already freaking out."

"I'd say that'd be impossible, but I know your mother." Regina muttered, rolling her eyes as she let Henry lead her out of the cabin, closing the door firmly behind them. 

~

_Emma had only been without the darkness for a few hours before Killian had turned to her, taking her hand carefully in his and placing her palm over his heart. There was pride shining in his eyes, and gratitude, but the words that bubbled to Emma's lips; that he was the reason she had come back, that he and Henry had loved her enough to bring her home, didn't get a chance for speech. Killian ducked his head, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, reverent in a way that made Emma feel as if her world was still tilting on its axis because this man loved her. She fought the urge to wrap herself up in him and never let go, and lost. Killian bore up well under the weight of a full-grown woman clinging to his shoulders, resting their foreheads together while her heart simply overflowed. "I love you, Swan. More than any words can express. And you've come back...you've come back to me."_

_"You found me," Emma breathed in response, "you always do."_

_"I always will." Killian grinned, impish, and Emma clung to his leather-clad shoulders, wishing for a way to climb into his arms that would be excused when she wouldn't ever emerge again. "There's something I want to ask you, Emma." He licked his lips, his gaze steady even though every cell of him screamed his nerves for her, "Move in with me. It's fast for this world, and you might want to run, but hear me out first: We get no breaks we do not take for ourselves. I need you, Emma--Losing you to the Darkness, even for as brief as it was, just proved it more. You're my happy ending, my guiding star, and I cannot stand to think of letting you go for a night. So move in with me. Let me live my life in your orbit, Swan. Please, let me be close to you."_

_Emma had swung into him, pressing her lips to his with all the finality of a promise. He couldn't help but wrap her in his arms, lifting easily as she laughed into their kiss. "Yes." She finally answered, laughing still, "We'll get a place, move in together."_

_Killian smiled, the light of it rivaling a sunrise, and Emma felt a small glow of pride that it was simply her that could put it there. "I love you, Emma."_

_"I love you, too, Killian." Emma grinned, the words coming easier to her lips than she had ever been able to say them. She loved Henry, and she did love her parents, but she had had to learn how to tell them. With Killian, it had been a fight for her not to say them, until she'd finally realized that she had to say them, that it was a futile battle for her walls to stay up. "I don't want you to let me go tonight, either."_

_Killian bit down on a shiver from her whispered words against his cheek, squeezing her tighter for a moment. "I know just the place." Killian told her, grin wicked, "Let's make our excuses, love. You're more tired than you'll let on, but I know you."_

_Shaking her head at him, Emma released his grip from around his neck, landing lightly on the floor and taking his fingers tightly in hers, taking his with her as she trouped through the gathering in Granny's diner, kissing Henry's forehead and nodding to her parents where they were caught up in a conversation with Granny. "We'll meet you tomorrow for breakfast, dear." Her mother called, and Emma grinned as Killian's ears coloured, her father looking between his wife and his daughter with horror written all over his face._

_Killian wrapped his arm around her as they managed to reach the door of the diner, Emma waving to Regina and Robin where they were wrapped up in figuring each other out again. Emma would almost feel bad about leaving Henry with his other mother, but Regina had been putting off being alone with her thief anyway, and Emma wanted her night with her pirate before she even started thinking about trying to help Regina find her happiness again. She felt that admitting she was hoping for one night to be greedy would set Killian off laughing until he cried: the princess trying to steal time for a pirate. She wrapped her fingers tighter between his, throwing a look over her shoulder into the window of the diner as they stole away from the celebration of having the Saviour come back to them. She had had enough time scared to be near him; listening from shadows and wishing she could believe in herself half as well as he believed in her. If Emma was being honest, she could not bear to go near him as the Dark One. The hatred he had held for too long had frightened her from coming to him, from finding them and trying to find her ground with her family by her side. It wasn't until he'd all-but summoned her that she let him see that she was there in Storybrooke still. Killian had fought for her, even when it was her he was fighting against._

_"Lass, I am quite certain the last time I let a stunning blonde lead me back to my ship from a small-town establishment resembling the one we just left, I was knocked out on my own damned floor, and woke with a hangover that could have felled a troll." Killian laughed, catching her in his arms before she could break into a run to get him onto his ship and into her arms sooner._

_"You probably don't remember that night well, then," she teased, following his lead even as she curled her fingers into the lapels of his jacket, "and that poor girl would have been left with a kiss and nothing more to show for it."_

_His hand was always so gentle against her skin, and his eyes always seemed to swallow her whole when she needed him to. "I like to think she ended up with the right pirate after all."_

_"She'd agree." Emma whispered, pulling him in and kissing him. "I love you, Killian. Have for a long time now; I just never knew quite how to say it."_

_"I love you, Emma Swan." Killian replied, kissing her softly and reverently. She felt as if she was never more taken care of than she was with him. And he had proven her right so many times already. "I believe that all that came before you was there because I had to be there for you to find."_

_Emma knew the pain he was talking about surviving; had seen the scars he carried through all his hundreds of years, and she didn't know if she could ever be worth all that he had been through. He shook his head as if he knew what she was thinking, kissing her forehead gently and pulling her in so that her face was pressed into his collar, her lungs pulling in the scent of the sea from his skin, the warmth melting her into him._

_"Finding you," Killian told her, his voice soft and husky in a way that spoke to her volumes about how he loved her, "was more than worth it all, Swan. I could ask for no more than your love." Emma pushed into him, and he chuckled, his hand coming to wrap around here in his lapel, his cheek resting against her hair as she let herself be held, "All the time I spent looking for you, even when I didn't know it was you I was looking for, would have been worth it even if I had never won your heart, Emma."_

_"How am I supposed to deserve you?" Emma sniffed, tears no longer an idle threat._

_"By being my Emma Swan."_

_"Take me home and stop being so damnably perfect until I have built my defences back against your charms." Emma grumbled, sending Killian laughing into her cheek as he kissed her softly, their walk resuming._

_"Perhaps I shouldn't let your defences rebuild if it makes you wish for me to take you to bed."_

_"Oh, buddy, I said nothing about bed." Emma knew it was a lost battle of a try, "And your good form will make you heed the wishes of your beloved or some crap like that."_

_Killian laughed, shaking his head. "If I gave in to half the wishes of my beloved, I doubt we would be here, Swan."_

_"That...Okay, yeah, good point." Emma laughed, "But since I'm such an open book, you should know what my true wishes are."_

_"I do. And I do my best to give you what you really want."_

_"Then why aren't we on the Jolly yet?"_

_"Perhaps because I know that if we dally, it will make you all the more...anticipatory of our night." The word was horrible, but he somehow managed to make it shiver down her spine as if with that one word, he could make her climb him like a tree._

_"Like you need help getting me to anticipate this." Emma murmured, and damn him for smirking at her when she just wanted to get him alone with her in the dark of the captain's cabin._

_"Help, no." He allowed on a laugh, "More like another trick pulling you to me." He pressed a kiss to the apple of her cheek, holding her in his arms as she leaned into his strength, "Not that I need tricks, either..."_

_"You really don't." Emma agreed, laughing lightly as they neared the docks; the Jolly safely moored ahead of them. Killian brought her hand up to his lips, and Emma squeezed his fingers, grinning so widely that her cheeks ached._

_Killian smiled in return, reaching up to trace over her cheeks, bringing her gently forward to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She shivered into him as his hook brushed down her back, her fingers tightening against his chest as she gasped into him, eyes dark and cheeks flushed. "No more teasing, Swan: let's get to the captain's quarters."_

_"You know, over thirty years ago, I was doing just this with a pirate that looked just like you, but acted nothing like you. How did you change so much so quickly?"_

_He gazed at her fondly, his dimple appearing in his cheek, "You." She gave him a look and he laughed, outstretching his arms. "Like it or not, it's the truthful answer, Swan."_

_"You don't miss who you used to be?"_

_"Gods, no. And don't misunderstand me, Swan; I liked my life, but I like my life so much more with you in it. You're a hard woman to recover from."_

_Emma nodded, "You tried to go back."_

_"I suppose I'm lucky I didn't remember that damn bar wench I kissed that night, or nothing would be the same." He grinned, and she couldn't help pulling him in and kissing him. Emma gave him a gentle shove onto the deck, catching his lapels as he stumbled slightly, grinning at her brazenness._

_"You are lucky. I might not have fallen for you otherwise."_

_"You can't resist my charms, Swan. You never could." Smirking, Killian kissed her forehead. "Let's go."_

_Repressing a giggle, Emma linked their fingers together, pulling him towards the passage below decks, eager to get him into his quarters. "I love you, Killian." She kissed him slowly now, settling into a slow burn that reached from her heart out, tendrils of pure heat unwrapping under her skin as she raised her hands to grip at his shoulders, her mouth giving to his, for once; not taking or leading, just following, like she had during their dance. If she was lying to herself, she knew that the dance was what did her in. If she was being honest to herself, she'd started falling around the time he wrapped his scarf around her hand and tied it with his teeth--and she hadn't stopped falling since, so maybe she should have considered it flying._

_"I'm right here, Emma; right with you, where I belong, and I will never get tired of hearing you tell me you love me..."_

_"...But it's almost like you don't need me to tell you. You knew, even before I did." Emma finished, her eyelashes a fan against the flushed apples of her cheeks, her mouth tilted in a soft smile, utterly ungodly in her beauty._

_Killian smirked, inclining his head, because she could read him as well as he did her, sometimes. Killian took up her hand, striding around her and moving them easily into his cabin, twirling her around him to the bed, and dropping to his knees as the bed hit the backs of her knees, forcing her to sit. He stared up at her, his eyes boring into hers as he took her hand to his mouth, kissing at her knuckles, the soft webbing between her fingers delicate against his lips. She caught her breath, suddenly unsure, and Killian knew without asking that she wasn't used to softness in her trysts; she was used to fire, and furtive touches, not a lover that was unflappably determined to take his time with her. It wasn't the first time he'd seen that look in her eyes, after all: she wasn't used to lovers who took care of her, who were interested in anything she had to say, who gave her what she bloody deserved and endeavoured to do so always. Killian was getting used to surprising her, and the flare of anger that came when he surprised her with something that surely someone before him should have given to this goddess of a woman. He felt like he was at worship on his knees before her, her hand curled around his fingers as he opened the soft of her wrist to his ministrations, his stubble rasping at the pale skin covering the delicate intricacy of her veins. Nipping at the base of her palm, Killian moved her hand to his shoulder, sitting her forward and leaning up on his knees to meet her as he urged her into a kiss. She held on to him as if this were some dream, and Killian felt his heart break at the very thought._

_"Killian..." She sighed, her fingers curling around his collar, and Killian was abruptly reminded that Emma Swan was devious, for a hero. She'd lure him from properly worshipping her, if he let her. And, though he did want to let her; he knew that this had to be done right, if for no other reason than that damnable look in her eyes._

_Killian leaned their foreheads together, his nose gently rubbing at hers twice before he leaned in to plant a soft, closed-mouthed kiss to the corner of her lips, then her forehead, her eyelashes, her cheek. She clutched at his jacket, her fingers sliding against the soft leather, and Killian sat up, letting her slowly strip it from him. Sitting back on his heels, he traced the fall of her hair over her shoulders with his eyes as if watching a waterfall of liquid gold, his hand and hook moving to frame her thighs on the bed, the heat from his hand burning through her jeans._

_She reached for his hair with trembling fingers, and he leaned into the touch eagerly, his eyes dropping closed for a moment as she pulled gently through his wild mess of hair, her nails gently scratching at his scalp. "You're ruining your reputation as a scoundrel and a pirate, Killian." She half-teased, her voice itself a smile._

_Killian grinned, his blue eyes dancing when he opened them, "I would rather bask in your touch than use any reputation, Swan. Your touch could bring me back from the dark, I know it could." Emma curled her fingers a little tighter through his hair, and Killian very nearly purred in appreciation, his head falling to rest against her knees as she scratched her blunt nails down the back of his neck, "You are my downfall, Swan."_

_Emma licked her lips, enjoying how at ease he was with her hands in his hair like this, "Kiss me, Killian." She ordered, and he immediately obeyed, leaning up higher into her, his arms wrapping around her like she was something breakable, and he would go through Hell itself before letting anything or anyone take her from him._

_He sighed against her cheek, nuzzling down into her shoulder and neck as he reached up with hook and hand to gently undo the buttons of her shirt. She felt her skin break out in gooseflesh, her lower lip disappearing between her teeth as his breath gusted over her chest,catching as he took in the white lace covering her breasts. That, she reached back for, undoing the hook and tossing the garment away. Killian sat back on his heels, the look on his face utterly destroyed at he took in her smooth beauty, the pebbles of her nipples and the graceful slope of her waist as she reached for him. Killian did not go willingly this time, sweeping his arms so that they knocked hers away, his movements smooth to the point of predatory as he stood and put himself into her space, his eyes hungry as he looked at her. He kissed with a little more force this time, and Emma hummed in appreciation, reaching for his hand to lay it against her skin--ever the temptress._

_Killian nipped her lower lip, flicking his tongue against the flush that swelled in its wake, and laid her back against the bed with gentle insistence, forcing the temptation down and focussing on Emma and only Emma._

_He was well-practised with his hook, and though he ached with the wish that he had both hands with which to hold her, he ached, too, with the sheer thankfulness that he could touch her at all; disengaging the hook, Killian worked to care where it ended up with Emma looking up at him like she was. She slid out of her clothes without preamble or help as if in reply, and Killian bit back a groan as she went languid under him, eyes half-lidded and seductive under her thick fan of lashes, smile soft and maddeningly coy, "Come on, Killian, get down here."_

_"Gods above, Emma Swan." Killian managed, sliding out of his clothes with more grace than he would have thought himself capable of. She grinned at him, reaching out for him, sliding legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders. Pouring everything he had into a kiss, Killian groaned as he shivered into the warmth of her arms, pulling her soft skin against his scars. Emma moaned decadently, and Killian was forced to remind himself that his Swan was the most devious woman on the planet. Killian changed the kiss, deepening it, softening it, until Emma was loose in his arms. Her soft hair was a wild tumble over his dark bedclothes, and Killian worked to commit every beat of her heart against his chest to memory as he ended the kiss, breathing into her scent of honeysuckle and cinnamon. "My gorgeous Swan," he sighed, lowering his mouth to her throat and sucking gently just under her jaw, her fingers tightening on his shoulders in response and a sigh with the fragility of a moth's wing escaping her lips. Letting his stubble drag against her skin, Killian lowered his mouth to her collarbone, tracing the curve of bone with his tongue before biting gently, his hand sliding over her waist, his thumb tracing the base of her breast to make her arch against him. "You don't know what you do to me...Or you do, and you've been trying to drive me mad since the start."_

_She laughed, folding her fingers into his hair and pulling gently until he came back up to kiss her, his thumb sweeping higher up her breast teasingly. "I love what I do to you, Killian. You--" Killian licked the words from her mouth, her hips rocking up against him desperately._

_"I will want you forever." Killian promised, moving to slide his arm under her hips, but she caught him, her fingers a whisper as she loosened the brace covering his stump, sliding it off and letting it drop to the floor with his clothes. Emma traced her hand down the scar tissue of decades perfecting the bloody brace: his first attempts not able to withstand all he needed them to, the resulting pain numbed out with enough rum that making another attempt plainly idiotic._

_He hadn't really let her touch his stump; had taken off the hook twice before, and the brace only once, in all their wild sessions of kissing. Now, with her touch so damnably tentative, Killian felt like he was going to come undone. "Does it bother you?" Emma asked, looking up at him before coming close to the worst of the scarring._

_Killian looked down at her: his perfectly broken Swan, who would not touch the knot of scar tissue if he told her he didn't want her to, who knew about scars and knew that for some there was no healing. "When it gets cold and dry, the brace can cut into the skin, and it aches sometimes, when I've been overdoing it." Killian murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder as he watched her fingers brush over the raised lines of scar. "You heal me, Emma. Does it ever bother you?"_

_"Never." Emma replied, truth ringing in her voice. "But I hate to hear that it still hurts you."_

_"You make everything better, Swan."_

_Emma kissed him softly, wrapping her arms around him and moving one long leg around his back. Killian kissed down her throat, his hand tracing down to her hip. Emma loved the feel of his skin against her, work-worn even though he'd been on land for three years, away from the ropes and only rarely sword-fighting any more. Killian touched her as though she were silk, and he was afraid that his rough hands could catch; the warmth of his touch shivering her into every play of fingers against her skin. Killian started to kiss down her body, the scratch of his beard sending goose flesh erupting everywhere. She writhed under his mouth as he licked and sucked at the top of her breast, just where it would sit above a neckline, and she shuddered as his hand slid between her legs, skimming at the warm wet he found there._

_"Don't tease me, Killian." Emma sighed, wrapping her fingers through his hair, "Please."_

_Killian chuckled against her skin, kissing each rib before going back to her breasts, his grin against her chest making her laugh at him softly, "As you wish, my Swan."_

_Killian's fingers went to work, and Emma let out a wild moan as his teeth scraped over the soft underside of her breast. She opened for him easily, his fingers twisting until the nails in his shoulders told him he'd found the right spot, rubbing her clit with his thumb while he teased her into a panting mess. He slid further down, kissing over the barely-there marks left from Henry in her creamy skin. Emma let out a tiny mewl as he licked the seam between her hip and thigh, her hands falling to the bedsheets once his shoulders slid under her knees, his hand working free of her slowly until he could lick the wetness from his fingers, her eyes burning down at him while he did. He braced his hand against her hip, pulling just slightly and using his leverage on her legs to bring her half into his lap, her legs folding down his back as he licked at her in one long, slow swipe of tongue. Emma let out a moan as though it had been punched from her chest, and he couldn't help grinning as he let his tongue go to work. Reaching for her hand, Killian intertwined their fingers, giving her a point of connection she could hold on to while he did his damnedest to make her fall apart. Emma was brilliant above him, her pale skin practically glowing as she moaned and gripped his hand, and as Killian sucked on the bundle of nerves until she cried out, her hips pushing and twitching against his mouth. With one last lick, Killian shifted so that her legs slid off of his shoulders, prowling up her body and folding her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly._

_"Oh god, Killian." Emma moaned, and he couldn't help but kiss her._

_"You're perfect, Swan." Killian murmured, voice rough. "So bloody perfect."_

_Emma pet through his hair, and Killian settled down between her legs, bringing her into kiss after kiss as the buzzing under her skin melted into her bones. Killian's hand traced down her waist to her hip, wrapping around her thigh and tucking her leg around his waist._

_"You're glorious." He whispered, nuzzling into the spun gold of her hair._

_Emma laughed, voice husky with orgasm and skin deliciously warm, "You don't have to flatter me, you're already getting what you want."_

_"Oh, no, Swan; you misunderstand. I don't just want you in my bed now. I'm tempted never to let you leave." Kissing the words into her skin, he slid his hand under the delicious arch of her spine, "And if I were trying to flatter you, I'd be far more eloquent than this, but you seem to have knocked the words out of me."_

_"Is that all it takes?" She asked sweetly, and he bit her in retaliation, delighting in her laugh. Killian kissed the skin he'd bitten, moving his hand to her breasts, his mouth quickly following while she recovered further. "I need to remember that."_

_The idle thought of her using her dangerous wiles like that was not one a man could cope with--at least, not one that that man could, at any rate. She sighed, relaxing bonelessly into the bed, her hand coming up to toy with his hair in what was fast becoming a habit. "Just run your hands though my hair, just like that. That'll be more than enough."_

_Killian hummed as he sucked on her nipple, her body jerking under him as her legs fell open a little further. "You like it when I touch your hair?"_

_"I love it." Killian groaned theatrically, burying his face betweeen her breasts and tickling at her with stubble an hair, her giggles like music. Killian shifted onto his back, pulling her over so that she laid over him, her hair a cascade over his shoulder and the pillow beyond. "I also like touching your hair, if I'm being honest."_

_"I happen to like you playing with my hair, Killian," Emma murmured, her hand brushing over his chest until she could rub her thumb idly over his pectoral, thumbnail scraping at his nipple. "You don't do it enough," kissing at his chest, Emma brushed her long fingers over the scars on his front._

_"I was meant to be worshipping at your alter, Emma." Killian groaned, one large hand cupping at the back of her head, bringing her up to lick into her mouth._

_"I don't need you to worship me here, you already do every other minute of the day." Brushing her nails through his stubble, Emma smiled bright and sweet. "I want to worship you for a while."_

_"You--" Killian kissed the fingertips that she pressed against his lips, amusement in his bright eyes as she shot him a look, using her other hand to trace the path of the chains he still wore, picking up the ring on the longest once she'd traced it straight against his chest. "My brother gave me that...I thought, for the longest time, that it was the reason I've survived so bloody much." Emma's toying fingers stilled, and Killian reached to cup her wrist, bringing her gaze to meet his, "Now I believe it was to get to you. For as...ridiculous as that sounds, Swan; I've been alive for a long time, and I've survived too much...and I think you're the one I've been surviving for."_

_Killian took the ring from her fingers, chasing the chain up around his neck until he lifted his head to slip it free, laying back down and laying it in her hand._

_"It's yours now." Killian told her, "If there was ever any magic in it, I want it to protect you."_

_"Not yet." Emma whispered, looking up at him through her lashes, "Don't...don't give it to me now. I watched you die in the other world. I fought the darkness off because I could not bear to hurt you and Henry. This ring...it doesn't belong to me yet. It still has to protect you. When I'm protecting everyone else, I have to know you'll be alright."_

_Killian pulled her into a kiss, pressing her tight against him as he rolled back over, Emma's fingers dimpling his biceps as she sighed into the kiss, dropping the chain around his neck as soon as he broke the kiss, the other pendants swinging freely as that one fell to rest the silver ring against her skin. "When you're protecting everyone else, leave me to protect you."_

_Emma smiled, her eyes losing a shade of the darkness that had clouded them when she remembered watching him fall under her own father's sword. "I'd say I don't need it--"_

_"I know very well you don't." Killian replied easily, "But for as much as you need to know I'm safe, the reverse is true."_

_Emma pressed a kiss to his lips, a grin pulling at hers, "We do make a very good team, Captain."_

_"Aye, love; one would hazard to say the best."_

_Killian brushed his hand over the soft skin at the very base of her spine, his fingers spreading over her as if he had a choice in keeping her there or letting her go, and Emma kissed him again, harder this time, licking into his mouth in a way that put all thoughts of what would inevitably come next to rest, because he had this vixen in his bed, tempting him in the worst of ways. Emma shifted her hips beneath him, and Killian slotted between her thighs like he belonged there, his fingers slipping over her hip, aching with wanting to crawl into her arms and never emerge. She reached for his hand, twining their fingers together and grinding herself down in one smooth, undulating motion that had him seething not to simply take, his need coming to the fore as she sighed happily, wrapped around him, eyes open and bright. Killian kissed along her collarbones, stroking his hand through her hair as she hitched her leg around his waist, the head of his cock brushed over her, her shudder exquisite. Emma's eyes were the colour of the forest she hailed from, her mouth red as the finest wine and her skin flushed and shining with heat. Killian kissed her, thrusting his hips carefully so that his cock teased at her once more. Emma groaned, laying her throat bare as she let her head fall back, her hands pressing bruises into his hips._

_"My Swan..." Killian breathed, "my brilliant, beautiful Swan." He was careful as he touched her, and her body drew tight as his fingers swept over her again, her grip on him unbreakable and desperate in equal measure. He lowered his mouth to her shoulder, and she hummed as he whispered words into her skin like they were a spell._

_When she'd started to shake for want of him, Killian drew his fingers away, wrapping her in his arms before he let himself breach her warmth, agonizingly slowly and with a care that seemed to steal her breath. Reaching for his hand, Emma tilted her hips into his, her breath coming out in a heady gasp as she closed her eyes and urged him wordlessly to move against her. Killian did as he was bid, rocking his hips slowly and deliberately, dragging out deliciously slowly to thrust back in right where she wanted him. Her nails dragged over his back, the sharp points sparking over his skin. Killian wondered for a moment, about the magic so closely tied to her emotions, and if she wasn't truly glowing beneath him. Licking at her neck, Killian pressed a line of kisses over her jaw, moving her legs more securely around him and lifting, her hair falling over his shoulder as he sat back with her wrapped around him. She muffled a cry into his shoulder as the position changed, her hips rolling down onto him with a breathless whimper. "Oh, Killian...fuck."_

_"Gods, you're beautiful," Killian breathed, her breasts rubbing at his chest as she rose and sank against him. "Emma..."_

_Killian kissed her, careful with her as he wrapped his arms around her hips and started moving her, a moan ripped out of her. Her hands skated over his shoulders and down the muscles of his back and arms as he moved her, and Emma let out a high keening sound, her lip disappearing between her teeth before he could coax it back out with his tongue. She panted into his neck when he let her breathe again, and Killian grunted as her hand closed tightly over the nape of his neck, clinging. "Kiss me again," Emma commanded, and Killian was all too happy to oblige, laying her down again before using his hand to tilt her mouth to his, lips slow and thorough on hers until she was whining in the back of her throat, eyes squeezed tight as he let her breathe just enough so that he could keep kissing her senseless. They had no spell to break, but Killian felt like magic was pulsing through them anyway, her slick skin sliding against his as she pushed him onto his back and straddled him in one smooth motion. He reached up, tucking her hair back so that he could see her, her bright eyes sparkling and her mouth, kiss-bruised and swollen, turned up in a smile that might as well have been sunshine. Emma sat back from their kiss, and Killian brought his legs up to support her, planting his feet in the bed and thrusting up as she pressed down._

_It wasn't long, and for that Killian had no excuse, but when they tumbled into their pleasure, they did it together, her hand clasped in his as she rocked her hips into his and stuttered there._

_Killian pulled Emma down against him when her shaking stopped, wrapping her in his arms and pulling the blankets over them before the chill of the room could freeze them both. Emma's eyes were fluttering with every stubborn effort she made to keep from falling asleep. Killian smiled, kissing her lashes against her cheeks and settling beside her, his fingers tracing over her jaw to sweep back through her hair. "You're the one I want to kiss for the rest of my life, Killian."_

_His breath stuttered against her skin in a laugh, and she managed to pry her eyes open, giving him a look, "I believe you once claimed I was the last man on earth you'd ever want to kiss."_

_Emma raised a brow, a grin pulling at her lips, "Zelena chose well, I can admit that now." Emma hummed, pulling him up to her lips for a slow, thorough appraisal, "You are a damnably good kisser."_

_She settled in, the flash of his smile the last thing on her mind before she fell into sleep._


End file.
